The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday charged the National Assembly to
commence constitutional processes against President Muhammadu Buhari for allegedly
violating his oath of office by “illegally withdrawing and spending $I
billion from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) without the constitutionally
required legislative appropriation.”
The opposition party said President Buhari was aware that “his unilateral spending of $496 million (N151.374 billion) from the ECA, without recourse to the legislative
approval of the National Assembly, is a gross violation of the laws and
constitution of Nigerian and a direct affront to our statutory order as
a democratic state.”
In a statement issued in Abuja, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbodiyan, said, “By this action, President Buhari has technically suspended the 1999
Constitution (as amended), plundered the inherent powers of the National
Assembly as the principal institution of democratic rule, while
re-enacting a sole administratorship in governance as if our nation is
operating a military regime.”
“More disturbing is the revelation that President Buhari paid the $496
million for the purchase of military aircraft from the United States,
ignoring allegations of overprice and issues concerning due process,
just to achieve a political expediency of currying President Donald
Trump’s support for his 2019 re-election bid.”
The PDP said President Buhari’s action amounted to gross
misconduct and betrayal of public trust “because in the bid to push a
personal agenda, he deliberately side-stepped statutory legislative
scrutiny and acted in clear breach of section 80 (3) (4) of the 1999
Constitution (as amended).”
“While section 80 (3) states that “no moneys shall be withdrawn from any
public fund of the federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund
of the federation unless the issues of those moneys have been authorized
by an act of the National Assembly”, section 80 (4) provides that “no
moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any
other public fund of the federation except in the manner prescribed by
the National Assembly.”
“It is shocking that President Buhari, whose administration prides on
claims of transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, elected on a
platform that lays claim to the height of progressivism, who boasts of
the highest standards of integrity, can mundanely resort to a violent
abuse of our constitution just to suit a desperate passion of seeking
re-election.
“It would be recalled that following the public outcry over the
announcement that President Buhari had unilaterally approved the
withdrawal of $1 billion from the ECA, the Presidency, through his
Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Inang, on
April 9, 2018 stated that no such approval has been made, adding that
the President would never act in breach of section 80 of the
constitution; yet they were aware that payments have been made.
“The resort to falsehood, deception and secrecy in the withdrawal from
the ECA and the reported $469 million payment for the military aircraft
raises very serious issues regarding the integrity of the Buhari
Presidency.
“While we have nothing against any effort to ensure adequate security in
our land, we insist that such must be done within the ambits of due
process of our laws and the constitution.”
The PDP urged “President Donald Trump, as the President of the world’s
biggest democracy, to note that the $469 million paid for the purchase
of military aircraft, forms part of proceed for illegal activities of
our President, who has violated statutory provisions of our constitution
to pursue a selfish agenda.”
“We therefore charge the National Assembly to investigate the whereabouts
of the balance from the $1 billion ECA fund and the purposes for which it has
been taken, as well as save our democracy and constitutional order by
invoking appropriate legislative processes against President Buhari for
this violation, before it becomes too late.”
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