By Myke Uzendu, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the confession by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, that stealing is going on quietly under the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC), vindicates its stand that the APC is a haven of thieves and treasury looters.
The party in a statement on Monday by its Spokesperson, Kola Ologondiyan asserted that the confession further confirms that the Buhari-led APC administration has been providing official cover for corrupt officials, who have turned government agencies to cash cows and Automated Teller Machines (ATM) for themselves, their cronies, family members and mistresses.
“The situation as presented by Amaechi shows that ‘quiet stealing’ is a policy of the APC administration. This explains why the administration is heavy on propaganda and has failed to prosecute its officials and APC leaders openly indicted for corruption, but only resort to “easing out” such thieves with a pat on the wrist.
“The confession by Amaechi exposes why the APC administration has failed to recover the over N25 trillion naira reportedly stolen by APC leaders in various government agencies.
“Nigerians now have a clearer picture on how the N9.3 trillion as detailed in the reported NNPC memo was stolen, how over N2 trillion was allegedly siphoned under fraudulent subsidy regime as well as how the N1.1 worth of crude oil was reportedly stolen using 18 unregistered vessels.
“This is in addition to the revelation by the National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Babagana Monguno, that billions of naira meant for security under the APC could not be traced” he said.
The main opposition party called on Nigerians to recall how billions of naira was reportedly stolen from various agencies including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in which a very top APC government official was indicted, as well as the N500 billon Social Investment Programme fund, as revealed by First Lady, Aisha Buhari, were siphoned.
The party held that Amaechi’s confession has also shed more light on the circumstance behind the alleged stealing of N165 billion in the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) under his ministerial purview, the N1.5 trillion and $9.5 million reportedly stolen from Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the $65 million (N31 billion) frittered from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) as well as the N90 billion looted from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), among others.
“The APC has looted our nation into two excruciating economic recessions in a space of six years, and turned our nation into the poverty capital of the world, where over 83 million citizens live in abject impoverishment and unable to afford basic necessities of life” the party alleged.
The PDP charged Nigerians to hold the APC and its leaders responsible for all the woes that have befallen the nation in the last six years and ensure that it is not allowed anywhere near the governance of the nation, come 2023.
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