PDP claims N14tn stolen under Buhari
The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday alleged that N14tn had been stolen under the All Progressives Congress-led Presidency.
It
said the party and President Muhammadu Buhari were desperate to remain
in power in order to prevent investigations into the matter.
The
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, made the
allegations in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja.
Ologbondiyan
alleged that the stolen money included the N9tn allegedly stolen from
the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, as detailed in the leaked Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation’s memo; the over N1.4tn alleged oil
subsidy sleaze and the N1.1tn worth of crude allegedly diverted using 18
unregistered companies.
He listed others to include the N33bn
National Emergency Management Agency fund, and the over N18bn allegedly
stolen out of the N48bn approved by the National Assembly in the 2017
budget for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons in the
North-East among others.
The party’s spokesman also claimed that
the present administration’s “unwholesome” borrowing led to the
escalation of the nation’s debt stock from N12.12tn in 2015 to N24.39tn
in 2018.
He said within three years, Buhari’s administration had borrowed
N12.27tn and yet could not point to any significant project which the
money was invested in.
Ologbondiyan said, “The President Muhammadu
Buhari-led Presidency and the APC are desperate to remain in power at
all costs, so as to continue to exploit Nigerians, protect the APC
corrupt leaders, cover their incompetence and conceal the humongous
sleazes in their administration.
“This is the reason the APC and
the cabal at the incompetent Buhari Presidency resorted to violence,
intimidation as well as manipulations and alteration of results at the
Independent National Electoral Commission to rig the February 23
presidential election.
“This also explains why the APC’s agents
and certain presidential aides have been making desperate efforts to
distract the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal and derail the
course of justice by making and promoting baseless judicial
interpretations and externalising the proceedings of the court.”
He
added, “The PDP urges Nigerians not to despair but continue to be
steadfast in the aspiration for the recovery of the stolen presidential
mandate at the tribunal, as this is the only way to return our nation to
the path of peace, national unity and a vibrant economy.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Lanre Issa- Onilu, proved abortive on Sunday evening.
Calls made to his mobile telephone indicated it was not reachable.
He had yet to respond to a text message our correspondent sent to him.