By Daniel Kanu
Assistant Politics Editor
The United Progressive Party (UPP) has said that the party was in full support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Executive Order No. 6 that gives the federal government power on the seizure of assets that are under investigation as well as assets that owners were not able to reasonably prove their sources of sincere acquisition.
UPP said the measure if implemented would fine-tune the effectiveness of the anti-corruption crusade, stressing that those who claimed that the Executive Order was for witch-hunting was wrong.
The party stressed that no Nigerian who has acquired his wealth legitimately should be afraid of being caught up by the Executive Order.
The party through its National Chairman, Chief Chekwas Okorie,
UPP stated: “Our great party, the United Progressive Party and its leadership are in total solidarity with President Muhammadu Buhari for issuing the Executive Order No. 6, which is on the seizure of assets that are under investigation including those assets whose owners or claimants to their title are not able to satisfactorily prove their sources of legitimate acquisition”.
UPP said that the fight against corruption was one of the recommendations it proposed to Buhari when its national leadership paid a courtesy visit on him on Tuesday May 5, 2015 before his formal inauguration.
According to UPP, “We wish to recall that on Tuesday 5th May, 2015, a cross-section of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our party paid a courtesy call to then President- elect, a couple of weeks before his formal inauguration, which took place on May 29, 2015, at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
“In congratulating Mr. President for his resounding victory at the presidential election, we recommended to him three areas he should give priority attention in his administration. We recommended that he should declare state of emergency in the power sector.
“We also recommended that he should pursue the introduction of Electronic
Voting System (EVS). The third recommendation we made was anti-corruption drive and we proposed as follows: “That Government should among other things spare no effort to recover all recoverable of our common patrimony in private hands whether in Nigeria or abroad, which has been illegally or illegitimately acquired.
“That UPP shall join the vanguard to mobilize public support for you in this effort. In making this suggestion, we are convinced that recovering as little as twenty-five percent of our common wealth in private hands will go a long way in assisting you fulfill most of your campaign promises to the Nigerian people, to the glory of God.
The statement noted, “We have followed with admiration the single-mindedness of the Buhari administration to fight corruption and recover looted funds from our common treasury. In fighting corruption, the present APC-led government has been implementing the policies of the Treasury Single
Account (TSA) and the Bank Verification Number (BVN), in such a comprehensive manner that unprecedented huge amount of funds have been recovered while various leakages that existed in the 16 years before the advent of the Buhari administration have been largely plugged.
“The whistle blowing policy is another unprecedented innovation in fighting corruption that has put the fear of God in many public officers and their criminal accomplices at home and aboard.
“We believe that with improved efficiency in the implementation of these policies the fight against corruption will be won to a very large extent within the period of the tenure of the Buhari administration.
“The greatest challenge we perceive that is confronting the government is the tortuous and sometimes frustrating legal processes in securing the conviction of those who have been identified to have looted the national treasury of this country for several years and used some of these illegal and fraudulent acquisitions to invest in properties and stock in Nigeria and abroad with a large chunk of the loot stashed away in foreign banks where the countries the funds are domiciled are using them to develop their economies.
“It is in this regard that we are in absolute solidarity with President Buhari for issuing the Executive Order No. 6. We are not impressed by the reaction of those who claim that the Executive Order is for the purpose of witch-hunting.
“There is no Nigerian who has acquired his wealth legitimately that should be afraid of being caught up by the Executive Order. Only those who have access to our national treasury and abused such privileges and positions should be afraid of the well-intended Executive Order No. 6.
“The UPP has no iota of sympathy for such people. Those who argue that the Executive
Order No. 6 is unconstitutional are at liberty to approach the courts to seek redress and stop unnecessary noisy politicking”.
It would be recalled that Buhari on Thursday 5th July, signed the new Executive Order No. 6 on preservation of assets connected with corruption.
But the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the order as unconstitutional and a dangerous step towards descent to fascism.
