The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the PDP-led Federal
Government of trying to suppress the audit report on the missing $20
billion oil money, saying the deadline for the release of the report,
which was set by the government itself, has come and gone.
In a statement, Saturday, in Ilorin by its National Publicity Secretary,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said Minister of Finance Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala herself had said, at the Financial Times Africa Summit 2014
in London in October, that the report would be ready in November 2014.
It quoted the Minister as saying at the Forum on Oct. 6, 2014: ”We engaged
PwC (PriceWaterHouseCoopers) with the Auditor General of the Federation
taking the lead. They asked for 16 weeks to complete the work; they have
spent 11 or 12 weeks so far and they will be done in a couple of weeks.”
APC said adding the remaining four weeks for the conclusion of the report,
as requested by the auditors, meant that it should have been ready by
latest Nov. 7th 2014.
”It is now over a month since the deadline for the release of the report
expired, and the government has simply kept mum on the report, apparently
in an effort to sweep the issue under the carpet, as it has done with all
other reports of widespread corruption under the present dispensation.
”However, Nigerians will not allow this to happen. They will continue to
demand that the audit report be made public, in the interest of
transparency. We also believe that the Minister of Finance should strive
to protect whatever is left of her international reputation by living up
to her words that the issue will not be swept under the carpet. It is not
only Nigerians but the entire international community who are interested
in the outcome of the audit.
”If there is any reason why the report has not been released, the Minister
should immediately come out and tell Nigerians. Otherwise, she should
release the report today so that Nigerians will know exactly how much of
their oil funds is missing and those to be held responsible for the
unprecedented heist,” the party said.
APC said it refuses to believe the stories making the rounds to the effect
that the FG is deliberately sitting on the report because it (report) has
heavily indicted it and some powerful personalities in the Administration
of President Goodluck Jonathan.
”In announcing the forensic audit of the unaccounted for money, Mrs
Okonjo-Iweala said the President supported it and asked for it to be done.
Now that it has been done, why has the report not been released, even if
it implicates the government itself?” the party queried