By Emeka Duru
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday demanded a “system-wide investigation into the alleged siphoning of N90 billion from the coffers of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in which top members of the Buhari Presidency and All Progressives Congress (APC) have been mentioned.”
The main opposition party said the Buhari Presidency must not cover “this humongous corruption involving highly placed officers in this administration, as it had done in the past.”
The national publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement made available to TheNiche said the PDP laments that in the face of excruciating hardship being endured by citizens, a government, which came into office on the mantra of change and zero tolerance for corruption, has become enmeshed in atrocious acts of corruption.
“The PDP holds that it is pathetic and speaks volumes of the character of this administration that a top member of the cabinet is being fingered in this reprehensible siphoning of monies collected as taxes from
millions of already impoverished Nigerians.
“Our party notes that this shocking allegation directly borders on gross
misconduct and breach of public trust.
“The party therefore rejects the flimsy denials and threats being pushed
through the FIRS as a belated attempt at cover-up by persons close to
the Presidency.
“It is therefore held that the delay by the Buhari Presidency in applying
established statutory processes and procedures of ordering an
investigation into the issue only goes to confirm that the Buhari
administration is a citadel of corruption.
“This is more so as reports are already in the public domain of how the
money stolen from FIRS, was allegedly diverted to private purses and for
other extraneous purposes including the 2019 extravagant campaigns of
the APC.”
The PDP said “Nigerians expect that all our national resources should always be used to ensure the welfare of the citizenry and must be accounted for at all times.”