Press
Release
NNPC’s 25billion Dollars
Scandal And The Hypocrisy Of Buhari’s Anti-Corruption War
*President Buhari |
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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. We view the
allegations levelled 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.
4. 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.
5.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.
6. Nigerians
have not forgotten the acts of illegality and double standard 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.
7. 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.
8.
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.
9. 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.
10.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.
11. 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.
12.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.
13.This we find, is one of the very many reasons, the
nation’s economy has nosedived under the inept administration of the APC.
14. 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.
15.
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?
16.
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.
176.
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?
18.
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.
19.
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.
20.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 levelled 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.
21.
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.
22.
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
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Prince
Dayo Adeyeye
National Publicity Secretary
National Publicity Secretary
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