Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has challenged the presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to account for the over N10 trillion public funds allegedly stolen by APC leaders and members of the Muhammadu Buhari-led presidential cabal.
The opposition party said the APC and
presidency have been playing saints and pointing fingers while their
officials have been having a field day misappropriating trillions of
naira to finance their opulent lifestyles and political interests.
In a statement issued yesterday by its
National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, to mark this year’s
democracy day celebration, PDP said the presidency and the APC need to
explain to Nigerians why they have not set up panel of enquiry to probe
issues of abuse of rights, extra-judicial executions, killings and
bloodletting in various parts of the country.
The PDP specifically asked the
presidency to address Nigerians on the leaked memo detailing corrupt oil
contracts to the tune of N9 trillion ($23 billion dollars) at the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources, which are under President Buhari’s direct
supervision as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The PDP also challenged the APC and the presidency to come clean on the widely reported stealing of N1.1 trillion ($3.5billion) worth of crude oil by APC interests operating with seven ghost companies.
“This is in addition to the looting from
the Treasury Single Account (TSA) evidenced in the reported stealing of
N10 billion National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)’s account in the
TSA, as well as revelation of the frittering of fresh N25 billion under
questionable ‘deals’.
“Similarly, the PDP demanded that the
APC and the presidency address Nigerians on the widely reported stealing
of N18 billion Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) intervention fund as
well as the source of the N671 million allegedly stolen from the APC
account by some of its national officers,” the party said.
Furthermore, the PDP asked the
presidency and the APC to explain to Nigerians why no serious panel of
enquiry has been set up to address the issues of abuse of rights,
extra-judicial executions, killings and bloodletting in various parts as
catalogued by various international bodies.
PDP said: “The APC has become synonymous
with violence, deceit, hardship, hunger and starvation and can no
longer be trusted as a vehicle of national cohesion, economic prosperity
and the unity of Nigerians…”
On its part, while congratulating
Nigerians on the occasion of this year’s democracy day celebrations, the
ruling APC said its administration was committed to addressing the
ecomomic and security challenges.
In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdulahi, APC said Nigeria has made steady improvement in the democratic governance by holding transparent and credible elections.
“Indeed, our journey as a conntry since
1999 when we returned to democratic rule has not been an easy one, but
our country has soldiered on. We have built on the gains of those early
years fractured by military incursion and now 19 years after, our
democracy and polity are stronger.
“We have conducted successive elections and have continually improved on the transparency and credibility of our electoral systems.
“Remarkably, the President Buhari
administration has continued in the country’s proud tradition of being a
bastion of democracy in the sub-region and across the world, as seen in
the current administration’s lead intervention in ensuring
representative governance and peaceful transition of power in the
Gambia.
APC said Nigerians should congratulate themselves on the strides made in our political journey as a country since independence.
“For one, military rule is now distant
memory in Nigeria. We must now work collectively to improve our
democracy because regardless of its imperfections, democracy remains the
best form of government that can best serve the interest of our people.
“As a party in government, our
commitment to address our current challenges, which finds expression in
the economy and security, remains unshaken. We urge all Nigerians to
continue to pray and support the current administration’s effort to
build a peaceful and greater country,” he said.
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