The party said in a statement, yesterday, that the campaign to stop the recovery of the funds would be a total disservice to probity and public decency.
The APC’s assertion was
immediately rebuffed by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which
described the APC claim as reckless, irresponsible and highly provocative.
The PDP said APC’s display
of imaginary figures was a desperate effort by the ruling party to achieve a
heinous agenda against the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The PDP also yesterday,
appealed to Nigerians and the international community to appeal to President
Muhaamdu Buhari to guard against what the party claimed as the seeming
determination of the government to derail the country’s democracy. Citing what
it claimed was an attempt to stifle democratic institutions, the opposition
party said that Buhari was showing himself not to be a born again democrat as
he had earlier claimed.
The APC which described as
mind-boggling, the massive looting of the nation’s treasury by public officials
during the Jonathan administration, vowed that nothing but the total recovery
of the funds will be acceptable to patriotic Nigerians.
The APC reaction followed
commentaries at the weekend that trailed the assertion by the National Peace
Committee for caution in the war against graft. Besides, a member of the
committee, Bishop Matthew Kukah was also quoted last week as calling on the
administration not to focus on a probe of the Jonathan administration.
In a statement issued in
Lagos, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the
party said anyone who attempts, either by deeds or words, to sabotage the
recovery efforts is not a patriot and deserves nothing but public opprobrium.
Narrating some of the funds
allegedly stolen or unaccounted for during the Jonathan administration, the APC
said:
*3.8 trillion Naira out of
the 8.1 trillion Naira earned from crude oil (2012-2015) withheld by NNPC
*2.1 billion US dollars
(N413.7 billion) from Excess Crude Account unaccounted for
*Department of Petroleum
Resources’ unremitted 109.7 billion Naira royalty from oil firms
*6 billion US dollars
(N1.182 trillion) allegedly looted by some ministers of the last administration
*160 billion barrels of
crude worth 13.9 billion US dollars (N2.7383) lost between 2009 and 2012
*15 million US dollars
(N2.955 trillion) from botched arms deal yet to be returned to Nigeria
*13 billion US dollars
(N2.561 trillion) in NLNG dividends mostly unaccounted for
*30 billion Naira rice
waiver
*183 billion naira unaccounted for at the NDDC
Remarkably, the APC said
the above listed ‘missing’ funds constituted just a tip of the iceberg since
they are mostly from a few sectors of the economy, mostly the oil sector, and
were discovered even before the forensic audit now being undertaken in some key
areas.
Saying that the present
administration cannot turn a blind eye to such, the APC said: “It is absolutely gratifying that Nigerians
are vehemently opposed to the few who would rather have the government of the
day turn a blind eye to the looted funds and, in their words, carry on with the
process of governance.
“Truly, what sort of
governance can go on if the billions of Naira in a few hands are not recovered?
In the first instance, the government needs every kobo of the funds it can
muster to bring about the change it has promised Nigerians. Secondly, leaving such
hair-raising funds in the hands of the few looters is dangerous, because they
can use the funds to destabilize any government. In fact, no one will be
surprised if the looters use their dirty funds to sponsor public demonstrations
against the government’s determination to recover the funds.
“Thirdly, allowing those
who privatized the commonwealth to get away is offering a thumbs-up for
looting. No responsible government will do that,” APC said.
The party said that
already, the looters have embarked on a relentless and an increasingly-bold
campaign to discredit the government of the day and sabotage the funds’
recovery process, using newspaper columnists, ‘talking heads’ and otherwise
respectable opinion leaders.
“They and their paid
hirelings have tried to employ sophistry to muddle the waters, but Nigerians
are much wiser, and will not succumb to the dirty antics of the looters’
megaphones,” it said.
APC said it is necessary to
remind Nigerians of the kind of massive looting of the treasury that took place
in the past few years, so they can better appreciate the seriousness of the
issue at stake. It, therefore, listed some instances of the looting as
follows: “The level of looting that went
on in other sectors is better imagined, hence the need for all Nigerians to
rally around the Buhari Administration to recover the loots, bring the looters
to justice and to put in place measures to prevent such looting in the future,”
it said.
In its response yesterday,
the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, described the claims
by the APC as a desperate attempt by the APC to get public approval.
The PDP said: “In trying to
escalate their stock-in-trade of lies, wild allegations and falsehood, the APC
failed to understand that their baseless fabrications are capable of throwing
an unsuspecting nation into chaos.
“The spate of fabrications
by Lai Mohammed has become a sickening source of worry for well-meaning
Nigerians, including those in his party.”
The PDP, therefore, called
on President Buhari and the APC as a party, to call their spokesman to order
before “he plunges the country into crisis with wild and unsubstantiated
claims.”
The PDP said instead of
engaging in unnecessary playing to the gallery, the APC-led government should
get serious with the fight against corruption by investigating and prosecuting
corrupt persons, while moving on with the demands of governance, especially in
fulfilling their numerous campaign promises for which they were voted into
office at the centre.
Vanguard
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