The All Progressives Congress (APC) has listed new instances of the ‘insane’ looting of the treasury by some officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, saying the corruption mess that characterised the administration was so pervasive that until it is cleaned, Nigeria will not be able to actualise its potential.
”Those who would rather give comfort to the looters by dismissing the media exposure of looting cases as mere hell-raising should realise that no sane person can be silent in the face of what is unfolding as the worst cases of brazen stealing of public funds in Nigeria’s history,” the party said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
”On August 16, 2015, we listed some instances of the breath-taking looting of the treasury by some officials of the immediate past administration. Today, we bring three more heart-rendering cases to the attention of Nigerians. We will not relent until closure has been brought to this issue,” it said, listing the new cases as:
– A mind-shattering $2.2 billion arms scandal.
– A $6.9 million fraud by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to
President Jonathan, committed under the guise of buying three mobile stages for the President.
– A N2.5 billion scam involving the rent of house boats.
”While those charged with handling these cases are finalising the details of bringing the suspects to justice, our immediate concern is the attempt by the PDP, under whose umbrella the looting took place, to blame the Buhari administration for the mess and then infer that things have been worse in Nigeria in the past three months under the APC-led federal government than in the 16 years under the PDP. This is totally provocative, shameless and uncharitable.
”They say we are yet to fulfil our campaign promises to Nigeria, but they have forgotten that if only the PDP/Jonathan administration had not stolen Nigeria blind, there would have been more than enough money to give school children in Nigeria not just one but three meals a day and even pay N5,000 to 50 million most vulnerable Nigerians, not just the 25 million we promised in our manifesto,” APC said
Despite the almost daily discovery of cases of corruption under the Jonathan administration, the party assured Nigerians of better days ahead, as all its campaign promises will be kept because of the commitment and determination of President Buhari not only to cleaning the Augean Stable but also ensuring purposeful governance for the benefit of all Nigerians.
”It is clear to all Nigerians that the debilitating impact of 16 years of PDP’s misrule cannot be reversed in just three months. It is an obvious truth that it is always easier to destroy than to construct, but nothing will stand in the way of the Buhari administration’s commitment to improving the quality of life of Nigerians and making our country to function again,” it said.
It said that a major clog in the wheel of faster progress for the new Nigeria under Buhari has been the discovery that the pot housing the commonwealth has been licked dry by the looters of yesterday, hence the need to work meticulously to recover the looted funds and facilitate the delivery of good governance that will manifest in abundant jobs, strong economy and improved welfare and security for Nigerians.
APC said while the PDP, ever steeped in the pursuit of lies, presents the recently released data on job creation and economic growth as ‘clear signals’ that Buhari is failing Nigerians, the disgraced party mischievously omitted the fact that those numbers are basically a manifestation of the disastrous final days of Jonathan’s failed economic policies.
”The PDP omitted the fact that these numbers measure job creation and economic growth for the second quarter of 2015, which covers April to June 2015, a period in which President Jonathan was in office for two months while President Buhari was only just settling in to discover even more of the mess left for him to clear. No one in his or her right mind will hold someone more accountable for actions in just one month and exonerate another who was in the same office for two months.
”Since the PDP has become insular to global events, the APC will also like to educate the party that every country in the world is struggling to adjust to the effects of a global downturn at the moment. Only very few countries, if any, are growing as fast as they did, in say two years ago. From China, India, Russia, South Africa, to Ghana, Malaysia and Brazil, every country is feeling the effects of a sustained slowdown in global growth.
”The APC will also like to categorically say that it supports the policies of the CBN in its quest to ensure greater transparency in the Forex market and eliminate currency substitution in our economy. The CBN’s policy to stop cash deposits of foreign currency is in line with global best practices and has led to a drastic reduction in the BDC exchange rate for the Dollar”, the party said.
It commended Nigerians for showing absolute understanding and faith in the leadership of Buhari to change the way that Nigeria has been misruled in the last 16 years, and assured that, in the days ahead, the painstaking efforts of the President will manifest, even more than Nigerians have already witnessed.
