Controversial former Special Assistant on Social Media to President Buhari, Lauretta Onochie, has failed to appear before the Senate ad-hoc committee investigating unauthorized spending by NDDC to substantiate her allegations against the Managing Director of NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku.
Onochie, who currently chairs the governing council of NDDC, alleged under oath before the committee on Friday May 19th that the Managing Director of the commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, is operating about 367 different foreign exhange accounts. She swore that her allegation was factual and based on evidence, which she promised to present before the committee.
Federal government ministries, departments and agencies are bound by law to operate a single account domiciled within the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Contravening this law is criminal and anyone found culpable could be prosecuted.
Consequently, the chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, directed Onochie to gather her evidence and present them on Monday May 22, 2023 because these allegation was quite weighty and alarming.
According to a source within the NDDC, “Madam Lauretta was asked to appear before the Senate ad-hoc committee on Monday with her documents to prove her allegations, but uptill now almost close of work, she is yet to come.”
More findings reveal that Onochie lied to Senator Yusuf on phone that she was stuck in Delta State without a flight to Abuja inorder to appear before the committee. “She was called severally, but, she claimed to be in Argbor – Delta State, stranded without a flight back to Abuja when actually the call tracker showed that she was still in Abuja”.
Another source privy to the incident, further disclosed that the committee is contemplating issuing a bench warrant against her as it is obvious she lied under oath and the committee has little time left to submit its report to plenary. This warrant may make her a fugitive and authorize the Police to commence a manhunt for her and bring her to the Senate. “If she continues to ignore the summon, we may be left with no choice than to issue a warrant of arrest against her”.
The committee, which has Yusuf Yusuf (APC-Taraba ) as chairman was given one week to turn in its report. Other members of the committee include Dickson, Uche Ekwunife, Abdullahi Yahaya, Saidu Alkali, Adetunbi Olubumi and Sadik Sulaiman.
