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Power City Pastor In Trouble Over Alleged Million-Naira Contract Fraud In NDDC

<h4>Power City Pastor In Trouble Over Alleged Million-Naira Contract Fraud In NDDC<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission &lpar;EFCC&rpar; have arrested a staff member of the Niger Delta Development Commission &lpar;NDDC&rpar;&comma; Pastor Kelechi Benwosely Esimogu&comma; over allegations of a large-scale financial scam linked to purported contract deals&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;SaharaReporters gathered that Esimogu was arrested on Wednesday around 9&colon;30 p&period;m&period; at a popular hospitality spot in Wuse&comma; Abuja&comma; by operatives of the agency&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The suspect serves as the Group Pastor of Power City International in Port Harcourt&comma; Rivers State&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;She was reportedly picked up without any incident and subsequently taken into custody for further questioning&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;EFCC sources told SaharaReporters that the arrest followed a petition filed by some private companies alleging that the cleric obtained hundreds of millions of Naira under the pretext of securing lucrative contracts from NDDC where she works&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;According to the petitioners&comma; Esimogu allegedly presented herself as having strong influence within the commission and convinced company representatives that she could facilitate the award of high-value projects&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The petitioners claimed that the suspect failed to carry out the agreed job and instead allegedly diverted the funds to political activities&comma;” one of the sources told SaharaReporters&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Several attempts by both the complainants and investigators to reach her proved abortive&period; We traced her location&comma; but she was always evading arrest by frequently changing locations and lodging in different hotels&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The company wasn’t the only complainant&period; Other companies also lodged similar petitions bordering on alleged fraudulent conduct&comma; prompting investigators to conduct a broader&comma; more comprehensive investigation into the matter&comma;” the source said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;34724" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-34724" style&equals;"width&colon; 300px" class&equals;"wp-caption alignnone"><img class&equals;"size-medium wp-image-34724" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2026&sol;03&sol;NDDC1-300x171&period;webp" alt&equals;"Power City Pastor In Trouble Over Alleged Million-Naira Contract Fraud In NDDC" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"171" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-34724" class&equals;"wp-caption-text"><em><strong>NDDC<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Another source added&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Payments were reportedly made in tranches over a period of time&period; However&comma; the promised contracts never materialized&comma; prompting the company to write to us to investigate&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We invited her several times&comma; but she didn’t show up&comma; making excuses&period; However&comma; she has been moving around in her state&comma; Imo&comma; declaring her intention to get involved in politics and contest in the forthcoming election&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;So&comma; investigators are also examining whether any proceeds from the alleged scheme were deployed in political mobilization efforts&comma; including outreach to local stakeholders and influencers&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;When contacted&comma; EFFC spokesperson&comma; Dele Oyewale&comma; told SaharaReporters to give him time to contact the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;office”&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Let me call the office&semi; I would get back&comma;” he said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;However&comma; calls put across to him several hours after were not answered&comma; nor returned&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;NDDC was established by former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">Niger Delta region<&sol;a> of Nigeria&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;The agency has&comma; however&comma; been plagued by deep-seated corruption&comma; characterized by over 13&comma;000 abandoned projects&comma; ₦81 billion in irregular expenditures&comma; and ₦40 billion in reckless spending&comma; which have crippled development in Nigeria&&num;8217&semi;s oil-producing region&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Meanwhile&comma; Dr&period; Kelechi Benwosely Esimogu has officially declared her intention to run for the House of Representatives seat representing Okigwe North Federal Constituency in the 2027 general elections&period; Her candidacy is grounded in a lifelong dedication to faith-based service&comma; community development&comma; and grassroots empowerment&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;A native of Okigwe North&comma; Esimogu emphasised that her decision is based on years of pastoral leadership and philanthropic activities aimed at uplifting women&comma; youth&comma; and vulnerable communities&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;My journey has always been about service&comma; serving God&comma; serving people&comma; and standing in the gap for communities in need&period; Today&comma; I am stepping forward to expand that service through responsible and accountable representation for the people of Okigwe North&comma;” she said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Dr&period; Esimogu serves as a Group Pastor at Powercity International in Port Harcourt&comma; where she has led initiatives centred on spiritual mentorship&comma; youth guidance&comma; and community outreach&period; Her pastoral leadership has consistently emphasised compassion&comma; discipline&comma; empowerment&comma; and ethical responsibility&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;She is also a staff member of the Niger Delta Development Commission &lpar;NDDC&rpar;&comma; where she has gained firsthand insight into governance structures&comma; infrastructure development processes&comma; and institutional accountability&period; Through her work and public advocacy&comma; she has supported initiatives focused on regional development&comma; transparency&comma; and sustainable community impact&period; Her exposure to policy implementation and project monitoring has strengthened her understanding of how federal institutions can better serve local communities&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Known for her philanthropic impact&comma; Dr&period; Esimogu has supported tangible development efforts within communities&comma; including the construction of access roads&comma; installation of street lighting in underserved areas&comma; and empowerment initiatives that have benefited hundreds of residents&period; Through targeted financial support&comma; skills training programmes&comma; and welfare interventions&comma; she has consistently prioritised practical solutions that improve everyday life for families and small business owners&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;As Founder of Women on Mission for Peace and Humanity&comma; she has spearheaded several grassroots interventions&comma; including empowerment programmes for women and young people&comma; community welfare and material support initiatives&comma; peace-building and advocacy efforts&comma; and outreach programmes designed to strengthen families and promote social stability&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Dr&period; Esimogu affirmed that her political aspiration is built on a people-first philosophy&comma; improved community infrastructure&comma; and transparent&comma; measurable representation&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Leadership begins with listening&period; Before policies are drafted and promises are made&comma; we must understand the lived realities of our people&period; This campaign will be built on conversation&comma; collaboration&comma; and community&period; Okigwe North deserves representation that is visible&comma; accessible&comma; and accountable&period; I am offering myself to serve with integrity&comma; humility&comma; and courage&period; Together&comma; we can build a future defined by opportunity&comma; inclusion&comma; and progress&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;She emphasised that her candidacy is not driven by personal ambition but by a sense of responsibility&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Openlife Reporter

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