Fresh tension is brewing within the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) as military investigators reportedly trace a massive ₦45 billion fund trail linked to an alleged coup plot against President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
According to top security sources, the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) is currently interrogating several NDDC executives over suspicious disbursements made to politically exposed persons and some detained soldiers.
The development follows recent reports that 16 Army officers were detained for alleged involvement in a plot to destabilize the government — a claim the Defence Headquarters has since denied, insisting the arrests were for “professional misconduct.”
However, the probe has intensified with revelations that part of the ₦45bn traced from NDDC accounts was funneled through a South-South shoreline project to individuals now under scrutiny.
Sources say operatives also raided the Abuja home of former Bayelsa governor and ex-Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, in connection with the ongoing investigation.
An insider at NDDC told Punch that the agency’s headquarters has been engulfed in anxiety.
“Since the interrogation started, everyone is walking on eggshells. Senior directors barely talk or move around freely,” the source disclosed.
The NDDC spokesperson, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, declined to comment when contacted.
As investigators dig deeper into what is now being described as “a broader intelligence-based inquiry into the movement of public funds,” the country watches closely for what could become one of the most politically charged financial scandals of the year.
