By Onyewuchi Ojinnaka
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Thursday said the revelation of an alleged $2.5 billion arms purchase fraud perpetrated under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch was a further proof that the administration has become a cesspool of corruption.
A statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, alleged that some officials of the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration were named were fingered in a new arms scandal.
The opposition party said the revelation is another ugly testament of the “stench of corruption oozing out from the Buhari presidency and the APC as a party.”
The statement reads: “The party alerts that with this fresh $2.5 billion arms scandal, reportedly involving the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno, who had earlier revealed that $1 billion also for arms cannot be traced, an alarming $3.5 billion (N1.3 trillion) meant for purchase
of weapons to secure our country under the Buhari administration has
been looted.”
The PDP stressed that “the exposed barefaced contract scam in the $2.5
billion scandal as well as the outright disappearance of the $1 billion
as earlier revealed by the NSA, show the level of corruption and
unscrupulousness among APC leaders and their agents, who are stealing
funds meant for arms while our citizens are daily marauded, pillaged and
murdered by terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.”
The opposition party lamented that “the unending exposure of sleaze in the security architecture of the Buhari-led administration has further heightened apprehensions in the public space that the security situation has been turned into a huge racket for corrupt enrichment of sneaky APC leaders and the cabal in the Buhari Presidency.
“It is more distressing that instead of standing on the side of the people to demand for a clean-up of the system and recovery of the stolen funds, the APC, as a party, is rather desperate to justify acts of corruption, because its leaders and officials of its government are involved.”
The PDP demanded that the Buhari Presidency should come clean and offer
explanations on both the $2.5 billion and $1 billion.
The party also called on the National Assembly to conduct a joint open inquest into the funds and other monies drawn purportedly for security purposes under President Buhari’s watch.
