By Nkemdi Kanu
Nigeria’s major opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to, within 14 days, account for the corruption and treasury looting allegation, under his watch, before May 29, 2019, when his first term will expire.
The PDP put the amount involved at over N14 trillion. It claimed that the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration was going down in history as “the most corrupt administration ever; a stinking sanctuary of treasury thieves that thrive in manipulation, deception and official concealment.”
The party’s position was contained in a release made available to journalists by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan.
The PDP insisted that Buhari must prove his honesty by opening up his tenure for investigations, the same way his Presidency was demanding of other elected officials in the legislature and state governments across the country.
It urged the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-corruption, Prof Itse Sagay, to help the nation by advising the President to present his stewardship for investigation for alleged corruption, instead of his (Sagay) unnecessary fixation on court rulings on Rivers State.
The statement noted: “It is totally unpardonable that President Buhari, despite his claimed integrity and zero tolerance for corruption, not only superintends over an administration that reeks and wallows in ocean of corruption, but also refuses to allow any investigation into earth-shaking corruption under his watch.
“The PDP challenges President Buhari to allow an investigation into the alleged looting of over N40 billion internally displaced persons’ funds; the over N45 billion allegedly looted from the National Health Insurance Scheme; the alleged siphoning of $322 million repatriated funds; the alleged extortion of N1.2 billion through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, as well as the billions stolen under the tradermoni project, among others”.
The PDP, further, asked the Buhari Presidency to order investigation into the whereabouts of N9 trillion ($25 billion) allegedly stolen in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, through under-hand oil contracts as detailed in a leaked memo of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
According to the statement, “The Buhari Presidency should also explain the circumstances surrounding the alleged corruption in the handling of the N2.6tn oil subsidy regime, particularly the alleged N58 hidden tax per litre which Nigerians have continued to bear since the fuel price increased from PDP subsidised cost of N87 to presumably unsubsidised cost of N145 as well as the reported stealing of N1.1tn worth of crude oil using 18 unregistered companies, allegedly linked to members of the cabal at the Presidency.
“Unless Mr. President has something to hide, he should within the next 14 days, allow for an independent inquest into these allegations of corruption.”
