The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari of amassing money to fund his second term bid.
According to the PDP, this explains why his aides have been stealing money without being penalized.
A spokesperson for the party, Dayo Adeyeye, made the allegation at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.
He was speaking on the allegations made by the Minister of State for
Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, that the Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, awarded a
contract worth $25 billion without his knowledge.
Read Mr. Adeyeye’s full statement on behalf on the PDP below:
NNPC’s $25 Billion Scandal and the Hypocrisy of Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishes to express our shock at the
loud silence of President Muhammadu Buhari on the humongous corruption
scandal and other illegalities currently being exposed at the nation’s
cash cow, the NNPC, in which two of his henchmen, the Minister of
State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, and the Group Managing Director of
the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, are the dramatis personae.
As a political party, we expect that the President, who prides
himself as an indefatigable corruption fighter, would for once try to
live above board, by genuinely allowing one of his own, accused of
corruption, get properly investigated and prosecuted as a show of his
impartiality in the war against corruption.
He should do this to correct the open impression Nigerians have about
his so called anti-corruption war; that it's just a tool of persecution
of perceived enemies.
We view the allegations leveled against Baru by Kachikwu as too grave
to be swept under the carpet and we insist that the NNPC GMD must be
treated like an accused who should not have the opportunity to influence
investigation into his alleged misdeeds.
In this light, we demand an immediate suspension of the NNPC GMD so
that proper investigation can be carried out by the relevant
anti-corruption agencies.
Ordinarily if there was sincerity in the anti-corruption war ,
President Muhammadu Buhari should not have waited for any prompting
before he takes a decisive action on this matter, but as customary with
his administration, we suspect that he's trying to shield Baru as he did
for Babachir Lawal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation
(SGF) whom he merely suspended to allow the hullabaloo generated by the
fraud perpetrated in the management of the emergency fund for the IDPs,
die down. Also up till now we have never heard anything again about the
millions of dollars and billions of Naira discovered at an Ikoyi
apartment.
Nigerians have not forgotten the acts of illegality and double
standards perpetrated by the president in refusing to hand over Babachir
Lawal to the EFCC for proper investigation and possible prosecution for
graft, but rather, preferring to give the task of investigation of the
open sleaze to the Vice President, in a move not known to any law of
this nation.
Even at that, the report of the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo led
committee is gathering dust on the shelf of the President because he
probably could not bear to see one of his closest allies punished by the
laws of the land, even when all facts show that blatant and unbridled
theft was perpetrated by the president's man.
The sum involved in the NNPC scandal is $25 billion. Less than 10%
percent of that ($2 billion) is involved in the so called arms fund
allegedly converted by the former NSA for which hundreds of Nigerians
have been arrested and hounded. Nigerians can now see the hypocrisy in
the so called anti-corruption fight. We may as well say that the
privileged class of APC members enjoys total immunity from the
anti-corruption campaign.
Tired of this double-faced corruptions fight and cover ups we demand
an immediate commencement of investigation into this latest exposed
sleaze by another of President Buhari's men.
We have been saying this for months that the looting of the nation's
resources under this administration is record setting in the history of
this nation and we are being proven right on daily basis by the little
revelations that are being made by even those working under the
administration.
We wonder what the stench will be when the real and hidden atrocities
being perpetrated under the watch of President Buhari are finally
exposed when Nigerians throw the APC government out of power in 2019.
The sum of $25 billion said to have been the subject of the latest
controversy, when converted to Naira is about N9 trillion, a sum that is
bigger than the nation’s annual budget.
This we find, is one of the very many reasons, the nation’s economy has nosedived under the inept administration of the APC.
The allegations raised by the Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources is a confirmation of our earlier stance that the APC
administration is in tatters, an administration without
coordination, but one planted firmly in the hands of a few cabal who
are stealing the nation dry while the President continues to feign
ignorance of the sickening stench.
If not, how on earth can President Muhammadu Buhari justify a
situation where a minister he appointed to serve under him, presiding
over an important sector like the oil sector be turned to a mere
house-help who must get clearance from some "outsiders " before
accessing the president? How on earth will a mere MD of a corporation
have the temerity to sideline a minister under whom he works and take
decisions without consultation with the appropriate authority. How on
earth could the NNPC GMD have been bold enough to sideline the entire
board of NNPC and take such far reaching decisions that have grave
implications on the nation’s economy alone?
We suspect and our suspicion is reinforced by the unfolding events
that powerful people at the corridors of power are tacitly involved in
this. If the President’s powerful Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari could sit
on the NNPC board and such a calamity is taking place without an eyelid
being blinked, we are forced to believe that the stealing is being done
to the advantage of the president who has shown by his body language
that the only thing that matter most to him for now, is his second term
ambition.
Will it be considered a "hate speech " if we say the money being
stolen by President Buhari's men are being kept aside into a special
pool for the prosecution of his second term ambition?
We challenge the president to prove us wrong by allowing his allies
being caught up in acts of brazen stealing of our commonwealth, get
punished in accordance with the laws of the land. Anything aside this,
we will take as confirmation of our suspicion that the rottenness is
from the very top.
We demand as bonafide Nigerians, an express order from President
Muhammadu Buhari to the NNPC GMD asking him to go on compulsory leave so
that investigation into the matter at stake can be conducted without
interference.
We also demand an order from the President to the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and other anti-graft agencies to
immediately commence investigation into all issues of corruption leveled
against Baru, as well as other persons who might have overtly or
covertly participated in the illegal act.
Much as we commend the National Assembly for indicating interest in
probing the allegations against the NNPC GMD as approved in the adoption
of the motion moved by Senator Samuel Anyanwu at the Wednesday plenary,
we wish to appeal to the leadership of the Senate to prevail on the
Ad-hoc committee set up for the purpose of the investigation, to make
their sitting open to all Nigerians so that nothing will be
surreptitiously swept under the carpet.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) reiterate our support for the
drive to eliminate corruption from the workings of the Nigerian
government, but we hold firmly to our stance that the APC Government
under president Buhari must lead and live by example.
We say no to soft landing to corruption; and corrupt members of the
APC government. We say no to double standard in the fight against
corruption.
Long live the PDP
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Prince Dayo Adeyeye
National Publicity Secretary
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