…Urges NASS To Appropriate Fund
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has uncovered fresh plots by the
cabal in the Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to use
fake subheads and duplicated projects as ploy to re-loot the recently
repatriated $311millon.
In a statement signed by Kola Ologbondiyan, “the party signaled that the
cabal had perfected the use of fake subheads as nomenclatures to mislead
those who repatriated the fund and pave way for the frittering of the
money to their private pockets as they had done with earlier repatriated
funds.
“The PDP revealed that part of the strategy of the cabal is to hype hazy
subheads and stampede the dissipation of the funds without the statutory
approval of the National Assembly, which enables them to muddle up
accountability processes, conceal their fraud and divert the attention
of the unsuspecting public from the scam.
“The fraudulent dissipation of the funds will then be followed with
false performance claims as well as blackmailing and intimidation of
Nigerians demanding for both transparency and accountability in the
handling of the money.
“The party noted that such had become the standard ruse for the cabal
and APC leaders, who also looted the earlier repatriated $322 million
under the guise of sharing money to the poor in 19 states and had no
answers to allegations that more than 90 percent of the 300,000
households listed as beneficiaries were phony family names.
“Nigerians would recall how the claims of the APC Government was
rubbished by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who had alerted the nation
that the N500 billion Social Investment Programme of the Buhari
administration was hugely shrouded in corruption and that bulk of the
money did not get to the poor and vulnerable.
“Furthermore, the Federal Government had failed to publish the details
of the alleged APC leaders who own the consulting firms that was
allegedly paid billions of naira up front, as consultancy fee for the
“sharing” of the money, which was not also passed through the
constitutionally required approval of the National Assembly.
“The APC-led Federal Government had also failed to account for the $308
million repatriated in February, for which it cannot point to any
project, but rather faced with allegations of unbridled looting by the
cabal and certain APC leaders, including those exposed to be receiving
huge percentages from repatriated funds.
“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the APC government had remained
silent on the report by the US Department of State that the Federal
Government plots to funnel this repatriated money to certain individuals
connected to the APC.
“The report had exposed that the Federal Government was even in the
process of funneling $100 million of the funds to Kebbi State Governor,
Atiku Bagudu, the Chairman of APC Governors Forum, who was reportedly
indicted by the US for allegedly helping in transferring billions of
dollar out of the country during the military era.
“It is also strange that the Federal Government is keeping an ominous
silence on how much, in line with its style, would be farmed out to
vested interests as legal fees on the repatriated funds.
“The PDP counsels that this repatriated $311 million should be
safeguarded from the antics of the APC cabal.
“Our party demands that the fund should be surrendered to the National
Assembly for proper statutory appropriation and urge Nigerians to resist
schemes by the cabal to prevent them from demanding explanations on the
looting of repatriated funds.”