Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei is a Nigerian professor and the former acting managing director of Niger Delta Development Commission. He was appointed by the President of

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, Muhammadu Buhari on 19 February 2020.

Early life and education

Pondei is from

Bayelsa State Bayelsa is a state in the South South region of Nigeria, located in the core of the Niger Delta. Bayelsa State was created in 1996 and was carved out from Rivers State, making it one of the newest states in the federation. The capital, Yenag ...

, Nigeria. He attended Federal Government College, Port Harcourt for his secondary education. He studied medicine and surgery at University of Lagos before going to

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

where he got his doctorate degree in

Microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

Career

Pondei started his career in 2001 as a lecturer. He later served as the acting head of department of medical microbiology and parasitology and acting dean of faculty of basic medical sciences at College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University. He served as the chairman of the Nigerian Medical Association, Bayelsa State. Later in his career, he became a professor of medical microbiology and served as the provost of College of Health Sciences, Niger Delta University.

Acting managing director of NDDC

On 19 February 2020, the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari appointed Pondei as the acting managing director of Niger Delta Development Commission to replace Joi Nunieh.

Corruption scandal

On 20 July 2020, Pondei slumped while being questioned by a probing panel in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

over an alleged abuse of ₦81.5bn between October 2019 to 31 May 2020. On 13 December 2020, Pondei was removed from his position and replaced with after an restraining order was issued against the interim management committee of the organisation was approved.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pondei, Kemebradikumo Living people People from Bayelsa State University of Lagos alumni Nigerian microbiologists 21st-century Nigerian medical doctors Alumni of the University of Nottingham Year of birth missing (living people)