ABUJA/Nigeria: The Chairman of the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum and publisher of Integrity Watchdog Magazine, Comrade Prince Kpokpogri, has dismissed as fake and mischievous the report alleging that the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, was arrested over a purported plot to topple President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.
Kpokpogri, in a statement issued on Thursday, described the publication as speculative, malicious, and the handiwork of fifth columnists bent on creating disaffection and destabilizing the polity. He urged the public to disregard the falsehood and always verify information before spreading it.
“As a concerned citizen, I find it disturbing how people recklessly peddle falsehood without fact-checking,” Kpokpogri said. “When has being interrogated become synonymous with being arrested in a sane society? When did it become a crime to answer questions as a friend to someone under investigation?”
He further queried, “Who is afraid of Samuel Ogbuku ahead of the Bayelsa governorship election that he has not even declared interest in contesting?”
The rights advocate clarified that Ogbuku’s closeness to former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, should not be misinterpreted as involvement in any alleged coup plot. He noted that security agencies reserve the right to question Sylva’s associates following the reported raid on his Abuja residence, stressing that such action does not equate to an arrest.
“Let it be clear that I am not speaking as a media aide or friend to Dr. Ogbuku,” Kpokpogri stated. “I speak as a concerned Nigerian worried about the growing trend of misinformation. It is wrong to malign a patriotic and exemplary administrator like Ogbuku over unverified claims. He remains one of the most effective and people-oriented Managing Directors the NDDC has ever had.”
Kpokpogri lauded Ogbuku’s leadership, noting that his tenure has brought unprecedented inclusiveness, transparency, and equitable project distribution across the Niger Delta. “Since the creation of the NDDC, no Managing Director has carried the people along like Ogbuku. His performance is outstanding, and his integrity unquestionable,” he added.
On the allegation of ₦45 billion traced to Timipre Sylva’s account, Kpokpogri said the issue had been misrepresented. He explained that Sylva, like other contractors, executed a legitimate shoreline protection project for the NDDC and was allegedly paid through normal contractual processes.
“If the Punch Newspaper report about the payment is true, then the NDDC acted in good faith, unaware of Sylva’s alleged agenda. The Commission is managed by a Board, not by one individual,” Kpokpogri stated.
He urged Nigerians to resist the temptation of spreading unverified information capable of tarnishing the image of hardworking public officers, adding that such practices threaten national cohesion and the credibility of democratic institutions.
