The Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), has invited the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, over allegations of attempting to bribe some officials of the Bureau with N100 million.
The invitation of the former Akwa Ibom State governor was announced on Monday by a Federal Commissioner in CCB, Ehiozuwa Johnson Agbonayinma, while speaking with journalists in Abuja.
Agbonayinma who heads a subcommittee investigating the case, said the invitation of the Minister should not be seen as a witch-hunt as the Bureau has commenced investigation into the allegations.
Agbonayinma said the Bureau was looking at the allegations which were first made against Akpabio by one Jackson Ude on Twitter.
Ude had accused Akpabio of allegedly offering the N100m bribe to CCB officials to give a “soft landing” to Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Effiong Okon Akwa, over discrepancies in his asset declaration form.
While briefing newsmen, Agbonayinma said:
“We have been given a mandate by the bureau to investigate the allegation against some officials of CCB that we saw on social media. Let me be specific; one Mr Jackson Ude twitted, and it went viral, that money was given to some officials of CCB by Akpabio.
“Because of that, a committee to investigate the allegation was set up, with myself as the chairman.
“The committee is not to witch-hunt anyone but to do its job of defending the constitution of Nigeria.
“We invited Akpabio, who in his wisdom, came to give his side of the story. At the moment, we cannot pass judgment as the investigation is still in progress. All the accused parties remain innocent until the investigation is over,” he added.