The war of words between the minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Godswill Akpabio and the erstwhile interim managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ms. Joy Nunieh took a disturbing dimension yesterday as the latter claimed to have smacked the former for allegedly harassing her in his guest house.
Nunieh who revealed this while speaking in an interview on Arise TV, said the incident happened at the minister’s guest house in Abuja.
She boasted that she was the only “Ogoni woman, Nigerian woman that has slapped his face” explaining that her reaction to the alleged harassment proved her intolerance for “nonsense” as a woman from Rivers State.
“Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me.
“I slapped him. He tried to come on me. I am an Ogoni woman and nobody jokes with us. I showed Akpabio that Rivers women do not tolerate nonsense.”
“He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive managing director. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment.”
Nunieh and Akpabio have made allegations against each other following the activities of the senate ad hoc panel investigating the alleged mismanagement of N40 billion by the interim management committee of the NDDC.
Akpabio had told the senate panel that he knew nothing about the expenditure of the NDDC under Nunieh because she refused to give him briefings.
Akpabio, had in a recent interview accused Nunieh, who was removed about six months ago, of being paranoia and having anger issue, which he said affected her alleged relationships with her four previous husbands.
He accused her of insubordination, failing to respond to official memos as well as lacking the requisite qualifications to hold a high office like the headship of the NDDC.
He added that she could not present her NYSC discharge certificate.
The minister also accused Nunieh of refusing, on several occasions, to respond to official letters, describing it as insubordination.
But Nunieh alleged that the minister engineered her removal for failing to follow his illegal orders.
“When we first came to the NDDC, on the day of going for the inauguration, he told me in the car that Madam MD, If you don’t do what I say, the same pen which I use to sign your letter, it will be the same pen I will use to remove you,” she had said.
Nunieh also alleged that Akpabio asked her to change the dollars in the NDDC account; sack the head of the legal team who is from the north; remove all directors who refused to follow his instructions and also to implicate Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the senate committee on NDDC.
She denied the minister’s allegation that she did not take part in the mandatory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme, saying that she served in Kwara State.
She accused Akpabio of always scheduling official meetings in private residences’ because he had a plan B’, noting that one time, she smacked him in the face for harassing her.
She added that she failed to respond to most of the memos because they were frivolous and written by people under the minister, who did not have such rights to carry out official communication with her office.
She added she was pressured by the minister to take an oath of allegiance, which she declined, thereby further souring her official relationship with the minister.
“He wrote me more than 30 letters, letters of appeal for amicable settlement of judgment. He wanted us to pay for legal fees. NDDC is not to pay legal fees to help people.
“He doesn’t just understand that NDDC money is not to be used to help people. Another letter requested for assistance. It’s for the Niger Delta people, not for assistance.
“I kept wondering – this letter was written by the chief of staff to the minister. Can you imagine? How do I respond to this kind of letter? It’s documented. He could have called but it’s documented. He wanted me to make payments to his cronies- payment for water hyacinth. That was the reason I was removed,” she said.
Nunieh, who said she did not want to return to the NDDC adding that she was forced to speak out since she was removed from office because the minister impugned her character.
“When he saw he could not make me bring out the money, he now tried plan B. Why did he not tell Mr. President what he did that I slapped him? Why did he not tell Nigerians what the insubordination was all about?
“Why did I stop going to meetings? He told the senate committee that I stopped coming for meetings. Why didn’t he hold our meetings at our office?
“I told Mr. Akpabio that I will not go for any meeting outside his office or my own office. The last week before I left, he came to Port Harcourt, but I did not go to Le Meridian to meet him,” she said.
She wondered why the minister had so much interest in her private life instead of responding to the allegations of misappropriation of funds.
She said although her private life remains private, she had never been married to four husbands as claimed by the minister in an interview.
She said the minister described her as ‘temperamental’ in an interview because of the way she rebuffed his moves.
“Why was he jealous that I was married for 20th time – did he want to be my seventh husband? Even if I married 80 times, I did not even marry four times,” she said.
