· Says, I never borrowed N1bn as commissioner
The Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has been drawn into the filthy politics of corruption. Accordingly, the former Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, responding to allegation against her by her successor in Rivers State, denied borrowing N1 billon while she served in the immediate past Administration of former Rivers State Governor, Chibuike Amaechi.
Apparently reacting to the allegation by Dr. Austin Tam-George, recently appointed Commissioner for Information in Rivers State, Semenitari said that no commissioner has the authority to borrow money from banks and emphasised that she never did. “No commissioner can do that. I did not,” she affirmed.
The NDDC MD, who described the allegation as “a definite and unfortunate lie” said it runs against financial guidelines and service rules for ministries to borrow directly from banks.
Semenitari, an award-winning journalist and seasoned financial analyst with several years’ experience in financial reporting, explained that only a state government can borrow. According to her, “No ministry can borrow from any bank. It is against financial guidelines and service rules. Only a state government can borrow and there was no project in the Ministry of Information requiring government to borrow.”
Semenitari was Commissioner for Information and Communications in Rivers State from 2009 to 2015.