But Nwaoboshi in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja said the allegations were nothing but national embarrassment that must stop.

According to him, none of all the 11 companies listed belonged to him as far as records at the Corporate Affairs Commission were concerned.

He challenged the NDDC officials to substantiate their allegations with required documents implicating him as evidence if they had any.

“The smear campaign and character assassination of people perceived to be stumbling blocks against the rot in NDDC over the years must stop in national interest,” he said.

The statement signed by his Special Assistant on Legislative and Media Affairs, Luka Igbonoba, said the charade in the past weeks by the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission to blackmail a routine task of the National Assembly to perform its oversight function as stated in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria had become a national disgrace.

The statement reads, “More so is the uncharitable and condemnable low of smear campaigns against members of the institution, churning out blatant lies that are easily verifiable. The latest, being a press release signed by a supposed civil servant, on allegations that are completely false and unfounded.

“They listed 11 companies and ascribed ownership to Senator Peter Nwaboshi. These are companies that he does not know nor had anything to do with. A simple search at the Corporate Affairs Commission will at least show both former and present directors. How do you libellously claim a man owns companies that perhaps belong to other people?

“Apparently, the officials might have generated names of companies they have probably used to siphon the peoples common patrimony, everyone involved must face the wrath of the law as It is expected that due diligence should precede any contract award.

“In any case, if the contracts were actually awarded in 2016 as alleged, the forensic audit which covers the period is expected to expose every detail surrounding these contracts and save the public from this shameless falsehood.

‘We strongly challenge NNDC to avail the public of the names of directors and shareholders of all the companies.

“For the umpteenth time, Senator Nwaoboshi once again declares that he is neither a director nor shareholder in any of the companies listed by NDDC.

“Nigerians are aware that the misleading press release is just another desperate attempt to rescue the already shredded and tattered image of Godswill Akpabio.

“Senator Nwaboshi, once again, stands on and reaffirms all he said in his last press conference as it concerns the Minister. He made it very clear and evidentially backed it up by presenting a memo written to him by Akpabio in 2017, requesting the inclusion of projects in the 2017 NDDC budget amounting to the tune of N500m.

“The fact of this request is incontrovertibly true as contained in the said memo which is in the public domain. No amount of brazen denial can subvert the documented evidence. The commission keeps indicting itself in the desperate attempt to exonerate Akpabio.”