The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari
and “his All Progressives Congress (APC)” of deceiving Nigerians to secure
power on the promise of transparency, accountability and zero tolerance
for corruption.
According to PDP, rather than fulfil these promises, the APC
administration has “scammed Nigerians and the international community in
the last three years”.
It said Nigerians have “boarded a one-chance bus driven by vicious and
vengeful liars, scammers and a falsehearted and heavily corrupt leaders,
parading as saints and messiahs”.
Addressing a press conference at its national secretariat in Abuja on
Monday, the party listed at least 14 cases of corruption in the Buhari
administration to which the President has turned a blind eye.
These range from the alleged underhand oil contracts to the tune of N9
trillion at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources, alleged corruption in the handling of the
N1.4 trillion oil subsidy regime allegedly involving officials at the
Presidency, alleged diversion and alleged stealing of N18 billion out of
the N48 billion approved by the National Assembly for the rehabilitation
of millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and rebuilding of six
northeast states, alleged use of 18 unregistered companies to lift and
divert N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil in 2017, and alleged case of NYSC
certificate forgery involving Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun.
“The question today is, where is President Buhari’s fight against
corruption?” the party asked, before submitting: “The APC and Buhari
Presidency have turned Nigeria into their cash cow while manipulating our
laws and rules to favour their selfish designs.”
THE FULL STATEMENT
Press Conference By The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), today Monday,
August 6, 2018, at the PDP National Secretariat, Abuja.
‘Where Is President Buhari’s Fight Against Corruption?
Gentlemen of the press, we have called you up today to, through you raise
serious posers for which we demand immediate response from President
Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC), whose
administration has scammed Nigerians and the international community in
the last three years.
President Buhari and his APC deceived Nigerians to secure power on the
promise of transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption.
Little did Nigerians then realize that they had boarded a “one chance bus”
driven by vicious and vengeful liars, scammers and a falsehearted and
heavily corrupt leaders, parading as saints and messiahs.
The Buhari Presidency and the APC-led Federal Government have been doing
all to divert public attention from their ocean of corruption and
primitive stealing including launching a brutal attack on the opposition,
hounding innocent Nigerians for no just cause and seizing the airwaves to
brand everybody else as corrupt, while underneath they shamelessly pillage
our nation’s resources, stealing money in trillion, under President
Buhari’s official cover.
Today, the Buhari Presidency has been busted. Today, the very leader, who
hitherto paraded as pro-poor and saintly has now been exposed to be at the
head of the most corrupt administration that our nation ever had since
independence.
If President Buhari and his Presidency are not corrupt; if the APC is not
a party of corruption, the PDP challenges them to address Nigerians on
their complicit in the exposed acts of humongous corruption thriving in
the high places under their watch.
*The PDP challenges President Buhari to explain why his anti-corruption
fight has not been extended to investigate the corruption from the leaked
memo detailing alleged underhand oil contracts to the tune of N9 trillion
($25billion dollars) at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which are under the direct
supervision President Buhari as Minister of Petroleum Resources. Why has
investigation into this scam been suppressed?
*The PDP challenges President Buhari to explain to Nigerians whose
interest he is protecting by refusing to allow an independent inquest into
the alleged corruption in the handling of the N1.4 trillion oil subsidy
regime allegedly involving officials at the Presidency, particularly those
benefiting from alleged N58 hidden tax per liter which Nigerians have
continued to bear since the fuel price increased from PDP subsidized cost
of N87 to presumably unsubsidized cost of N145.
*The PDP challenges President Buhari and the APC to explain whose
interests they are protecting by suppressing investigation into the
alleged use of 18 unregistered companies to lift and divert N1.1 trillion
worth of crude oil in 2017. Who are the owners of these companies? Are the
companies linked to President Buhari or any of his relatives or even APC
leaders?
*Furthermore, the PDP challenges the Buhari Presidency and the APC to
explain to the world why his anti-corruption fight has not been extended
to the internationally reported diversion and alleged stealing of N18
billion out of the N48 billion approved by the National Assembly for the
rehabilitation of millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and
rebuilding of six northeast states ravaged by insurgency in the 2017
budget.
Can the Buhari Presidency and APC claim to be unaware of the damning
report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a public
document which detailed how officials were using bulk of the resources
meant for the IDPs on contracts that were found to have immensely
benefitted officials of the APC Government including the sacked Secretary
to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal?
Can the Presidency and the APC claim to be unaware of the motion by
Senator Baba Kaka Garba from Borno Central, who exposed how persons, known
to have connections with the APC, fraudulently cornered N1.2 billion from
the Federal Government under the guise of supplying items to IDPs?
*The PDP challenges the Presidency to explain why his ‘famed’
anti-corruption dragnet has not been cast on the National Health Insurance
Scheme (NHIS) despite widely reports of alleged stealing of over N25
billion meant for the health need of the people from the account of the
Scheme in the Treasury Single Account (TSA) by APC agents.
Can President Buhari, the African Union anti-corruption champion, explain
why his Presidency recalled and reinstated the indicted Executive
Secretary of the Scheme, Prof. Usman Yakubu, while he was still being
quizzed by the EFCC for alleged corruption?
*The PDP and Nigerians would also want President Buhari to explain why his
anti-corruption crusade has not been directed to the discovery of
unremitted revenue from sale of crude by the NNPC under his watch as well
as the undisclosure of revenue accruable to states for which there have
been deadlock at the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC). Why are
these areas immune from the anti-corruption fight or are the interests at
the highest places involved in the messy deals.
*Moreover, it is a settled saying that birds of the same feathers flock
together. The fact that President Buhari comfortably surrounds himself
with persons indicted for corruption, sundry frauds, common scams as well
as forgeries is very revealing on the phoniness of his administration’s
fight against corruption.
*President Buhari has no other explanation for engaging and rewarding
corrupt individuals as ministers, including a certain individual whose
state’s judicial panel of inquiry had in 2015 issued a government white
paper indicting him of looting over N90 billion through alleged illegal
sale of the assets belonging to the state. After all, the said white paper
further alleged that N40 billion out of the looted N90 billion was
diverted for APC’s 2015 Presidential campaigns.
*It is no longer news that one Obono-Obla, President Buhari’s Special
Assistant on Prosecution and Chairman, Special Investigation Panel for the
Recovery of Public Property in Buhari’s anti-corruption team has been
indicted for forging his WAEC certificate, yet his boss, Mr. Integrity has
refused to investigate him.
*The same goes for Buhari’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who has
been accused of dodging her compulsory national service and allegedly
forged the NYSC Exemption Certificate. Despite her inability to deny the
allegation, she is still the minister of finance under Mr. Clean.
Currently, the Buhari Presidency in its corrupt proclivity is seeking to
force the reopening of the Senate contrary to Section 12 of the Senate
Standing Rules for which the Presidency and the APC are offering lawmakers
from both chambers an inducement of the sum of $1 million each with the
aim of impeaching Senate President Bukola Saraki and Deputy Senate
President Ike Ekweremadu.
The PDP has been informed that one of the heads of the security agencies
is the arrow head of the Buhari Presidency’s agents charged to coordinate
this heinous design, which has the unlimited capacity to throw our nation
into anarchy and ultimately destroy our hard-earned democracy.
The question today is, where is President Buhari’s fight against corruption?
The APC and Buhari Presidency has turned Nigeria into their cash cow while
manipulating our laws and rules to favour their selfish designs.
However, the PDP restates a commitment to the Nigerian people to expose
the Buhari administration and fight for the unity, stability, indivisibly
and prosperity of our dear nation.
Nigeria belongs to all of us and nobody, no matter how highly placed has
the right to continue to subvert our laws, beguile, intimidate or even
attempt to subjugate our citizens at any time.
Thank you
PDP National Secretariat, Abuja
August 6, 2018