APC backs Buhari's probe of Jonathan administration
(Nigeria) The All Progressives Congress, APC, has expressed support for President Muhammadu Buhari's decision to probe the Dr Goodluck Jonathan administration, saying that the revelations of mind-boggling corruption that are
just beginning to emerge have made such a probe imperative.
It said in the oil sector alone, billions of dollars have
been skimmed off by pathologically-corrupt public officials, wondering how the
government of the day can meet its obligations to the citizens if it refuses to
recover the huge funds taken away by thieving officials.
''It is an irony that those who are suggesting that the
Buhari Administration should turn a blind eye to the incomprehensible looting
are the same ones accusing the government of not doing anything. It is even a
cruel irony that the same party that presided over what is fast emerging as the
worst governance in the history of our country is the same one that is daily
bad-mouthing an Administration that is cleaning up its mess,'' APC said.
perpetrators to book and recover the looted funds.
''Where does one start from? Is it the fact that the NNPC
failed to remit 3.8 trillion Naira to the Federation Account or the
mind-blowing stealing of 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day? Is it the fact
that the NNPC itself does not know how many bank accounts it had or into which
ones the payments for Nigerian crude are made? Could anyone have imagined that
a government minister would steal the
unprecedentedly-huge amount of 6 billion US dollars of
public funds as being alleged?
''How does any sane person rationalize the fact that 1
billion dollars was unilaterally and illegally withdrawn from the Excess Crude
Account just because, as the immediate past Minister of Finance has disclosed,
the President ordered the withdrawal? What about the billions of Naira waivers
recklessly approved to dubious importers by the Jonathan administration?
''Is it not clear now that the stealing and the profligacy -
more than anything else, including the fall in oil price - helped to
drastically reduce the monthly allocation from the Federation Account from
about 800 billion Naira to about 400 billion Naira, thus pauperizing the states
and the local governments, and by extension the citizenry?
''Against the background of the stunning revelations, what
message will any government be sending to its citizens and indeed the global
community by looking the other way, when it could still recover some of the
looted funds for the benefit of the people? This is why we are supporting the
Buhari Administration's probe decision, and calling on all Nigerians to support
ongoing efforts to get to the root of the matter,'' it said.
APC said it is now clear that the Jonathan Administration
cleverly delayed giving the then incoming Buhari government the handover note
so as to avoid being asked critical questions pertaining to the unprecedented
looting under its watch.
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