The All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed strong support for
\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s decision to probe the immediate past federal
\ngovernment, saying the revelations of mind-boggling corruption that are
\njust beginning to emerge have made such a probe imperative.<\/p>\n
\u201dSome people have insinuated that the Buhari Administration should ignore
\nthe massive looting of our patrimony and move on. We say no responsible
\ngovernment can afford to do that, because it will amount to endorsing
\ncorruption and impunity,\u201d the party said in a statement issued in Abuja on
\nTuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.<\/p>\n
It said in the oil sector alone, billions of dollars have been skimmed off
\nby pathologically-corrupt public officials, wondering how the government
\nof the day can meet its obligations to the citizens if it refuses to
\nrecover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials<\/p>\n
\u201dIt is an irony that those who are suggesting that the Buhari
\nAdministration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting are
\nthe same ones accusing the government of not doing anything. It is even a
\ncruel irony that the same party that presided over what is fast emerging
\nas the worst governance in the history of our country is the same one that
\nis daily bad-mouthing an Administration that is cleaning up its mess,\u201d APC
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The party said even if all the acts of corruption that were perpetrated
\nduring the tenure of the last Administration are limited to what is now in
\nthe public domain, it is still absolutely exigent for the Buhari
\nAdministration to do all it can to bring the perpetrators to book and
\nrecover the looted funds.<\/p>\n
\u201dWhere does one start from? Is it the fact that the NNPC failed to remit
\n3.8 trillion Naira to the Federation Account or the mind-blowing stealing
\nof 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day? Is it the fact that the NNPC
\nitself does not know how many bank accounts it had or into which ones the
\npayments for Nigerian crude are made? Could anyone have imagined that a
\ngovernment minister would steal the unprecedentedly-huge amount of 6
\nbillion US dollars of public funds as being alleged?<\/p>\n
\u201dHow does any sane person rationalize the fact that 1 billion dollars was
\nunilaterally and illegally withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account just
\nbecause, as the immediate past Minister of Finance has disclosed, the
\nPresident ordered the withdrawal? What about the billions of Naira waivers
\nrecklessly approved to dubious importers by the Jonathan administration?<\/p>\n
\u201dIs it not clear now that the stealing and the profligacy \u2013 more than
\nanything else, including the fall in oil price \u2013 helped to drastically
\nreduce the monthly allocation from the Federation Account from about 800
\nbillion Naira to about 400 billion Naira, thus pauperizing the states and
\nthe local governments, and by extension the citizenry?<\/p>\n
\u201dAgainst the background of the stunning revelations, what message will any
\ngovernment be sending to its citizens and indeed the global community by
\nlooking the other way, when it could still recover some of the looted
\nfunds for the benefit of the people? This is why we are supporting the
\nBuhari Administration\u2019s probe decision, and calling on all Nigerians to
\nsupport ongoing efforts to get to the root of the matter,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
APC said it is now clear that the Jonathan Administration cleverly delayed
\ngiving the then incoming Buhari government the handover note so as to
\navoid being asked critical questions pertaining to the unprecedented
\nlooting under its watch.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed strong support for President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s decision to probe the immediate past federal government, saying the revelations of mind-boggling corruption that are just…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n