The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Samuel Ogbuku, has dismissed claims that he was arrested in connection with an alleged coup plot.
In a statement on Thursday, Ogbuku clarified that he was attending a Commission meeting in Port Harcourt with Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries, and Directors, which was televised live on Arise TV.
During the meeting, he urged participants to design and implement frameworks that would positively impact the future of the Niger Delta.
This clarification comes after reports in some media outlets suggested that the NDDC MD had been arrested over the alleged coup plot.
Earlier, DAILY POST reported that All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Yekini Nabena also dismissed the arrest claims, urging the public to disregard them as fake news.
“We woke up yesterday to see fabricated social media reports claiming Dr Sam Ogbuku was arrested. For what? There’s an ongoing agricultural summit in Port Harcourt, where the Managing Director spoke live this morning on two national television channels. We hope this puts the purveyors of fake news to shame,” Nabena said.
He added, “We ask the public to see it for what it is: fake news.”
The clarification follows reports that former Bayelsa State governor and ex-Nigerian Minister Timipre Sylva’s residence in Abuja was raided. Sylva, however, denied any involvement in the alleged coup plot.
Rumours of a coup plot have circulated in Nigeria over the past week, prompting President Bola Tinubu to reshuffle the country’s service chiefs last Friday. The military and Nigerian government have repeatedly dismissed the allegations as unfounded.
The article was originally published on Politics Nigeria.
