Akwa Ibom Governor speaks on NDDC director’s death

The Akwa Ibom governor, Udom Emmanuel, has said that the government and people of the state would require answers to certain questions on the death of Ibanga Etang, the acting director of finance in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Mr Etang, who hailed from Akwa Ibom, died on Thursday in a Port Harcourt hospital, Rivers State.

The NDDC is yet to issue a statement on his passing.

“There will be a time we’ll start asking questions. I am just waiting,” Mr Emmanuel said on Friday during the inauguration of a 300-bed isolation centre built in Uruan, Akwa Ibom State, by his administration.

“They rushed to the social media and published even the internal memo that they have shut down the (NDDC) office for two weeks, and that he died of COVID-19.”

Mr Emmanuel did not mention the late NDDC director by name in his remarks, but it was apparent he was referring to Mr Etang.

“I know I am not supposed to say this, but I am the governor of the state and every life of my citizen is important to me,” he said before he started talking about the passing of Mr Etang.

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Mr Emmanuel said the Akwa Ibom government called the commissioner for health in Rivers State to find out if a COVID-19 test has been conducted on the body and whether the result was out, immediately he read postings on social media that suggested that Mr Etang died of COVID-19.

“The result is not out yet, so I don’t know how people came by the information that he died of COVID-19.

“I am not saying he died or he didn’t die of COVID-19. I am waiting for the result. When the result comes out, we will ask questions, certainly. How did they immediately come up with the information when the result of the test was not yet out? Why did they grant interviews everywhere saying it was COVID-19?

“There are a lot of questions that are left unanswered in this matter. And I want to say here that we stand for our brother, we stand for the lives of our citizens.

“We are monitoring, we are waiting for the result. Once the result comes out, I will let the ‘elders’ of the state know and then we will decide on what to do. We can’t just be keeping quiet. We have told the commissioner if the COVID-19 result comes out negative, they must do autopsy on that body, let’s know what happened.”

Speculations

Hours after Mr Etang’s death, the NDDC management hurriedly shut down operations at its headquarters in Port Harcourt.

It then directed its workers to go into self-isolation for two weeks, and the decontamination of its offices and premises, thereby fueling speculations that the director may have died of COVID-19.

Mr Etang had served as the chairman of Esit Eket local government area, Akwa Ibom State, and later as a special assistant to Governor Emmanuel before he defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.

It was from there he was appointed into the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC.

The commission has been on the spot lately over allegations of massive corruption.