Port Harcourt, Oct 14, 2016 – The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has warned members of the public to beware of fake forms being circulated by dubious persons for a non-existent empowerment programme in agriculture.
Drawing attention to this fraud, the Director of Agriculture and Fisheries, Mr. Marcel Eshiogu, said that the directorate was not privy to the issuance of the forms and there was an urgent need to redeem the image of the NDDC to stem the scam.
According to him, the directorate felt that it was important to “alert the public of this fraud before it goes viral and dents the image of the Commission and particularly the Directorate of Agriculture and Fisheries.”
The NDDC Acting Managing Director, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, had earlier cautioned that she did not authorize anybody to embark on any solicitation for prospective beneficiaries of the imaginary empowerment programme.
A statement signed by her Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Bekee Anyalewechi, frowned at the unfortunate development where the name of the acting MD was being used to defraud Nigerians.
The statement said that the NDDC did not authorize or delegate any individual to solicit, recommend or collect money from the public in the name of empowerment.
While expressing regret that dubious persons had devised the means of name-dropping to feed fat on unemployed people, Semenitari said that NDDC under her leadership had pursued the empowerment of people through various programmes.
