NDDC MD, Prof. Pondei once fainted in Rwanda, says close friend

By MIKE ODIEGWU, Port Harcourt

The acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Developing Commission (NDDC), Prof. Keme Pondei, once fainted in Rwanda during a private visit, his close friend, Vure Kingsley, disclosed on Monday.

Kingsley said the Rwandan incident happened in December 27, 2019 and lambasted persons, who felt Pondei was playing acting when he slumped at the National Assembly while responding to questions from the House of Representatives Committee probing NDDC.

He said Pondei almost lost his life during the Rwandan incident, which he said occurred at the popular hotel in Kigali, Hotel 2000 where they lodged for a Christmas vacation.

But he said Pondei was immediately rushed to a nearby Bwiza Clinic in Kigali where medical experts worked hard and revived him.

He described the Rwandan experience as scary, suggesting the NNDC chief may have been battling with a heart-related condition.

Kingsley said he recalled the experience when he watched a similar incident involving Pondei at the National Assembly.

According to him: “In Rwanda last year, we went for a Christmas vacation before he was even appointed the acting managing director of NDDC. We were in the same hotel, Hotel 2000 in Kigali and we were seated at a lobby of the hotel.

“Pondei collapsed and he was immediately rushed to a hospital where doctors worked very hard to revive him. I slept over in the hospital and later we returned back to the country. But it was a scary scene.

“So, the incident at the National Assembly gave me some shock waves and made me remember what happened in Rwanda. When I saw the whole thing that happened at the National Assembly I quickly recalled the incident in Rwanda.

“I am not a medical doctor to know what he is suffering from, but I think in my opinion that he has a hearth-related condition. Maybe the pressure these whole issues mounted on him caused that condition to return again. So, whoever is saying that he made it up is deceiving himself”. (The Nation)