The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls on the All Progressives Congress (APC) to come clean on revelations, in the public space, that the N40 billion taxpayers’ money allegedly siphoned from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was used to finance its 2019 campaigns.
The party says the revelation, which has reportedly unsettled certain persons in the Buhari Presidency, has further exposed the APC as a decadent lot; a gathering of treasury looters who thrive in cheating, deceit and pretences at very high levels.
The development has further vindicated our stand that the APC is an extremely callous and hypocritical party, which has no iota of conscience but takes delight in depriving our citizens and pillaging resources meant for the wellbeing of our people.
It is shameful that instead of being remorseful, agents of the APC are reportedly engaging in dirty infighting over how the money was “shared”, with certain top leaders of the APC allegedly getting up to N3 billion each.
The PDP cautions the APC not to take Nigerians for a ride with its usual diversionary empty denials, finger pointing, hauling of insults and spurious accusations against the PDP, as the public already has reports of how very top leaders of the APC, including those operating at the Presidency, were used to conduit the money from the FIRS.
The PDP holds that in a nation battling the scourge of corruption, misrule, huge unemployment, unprecedented infrastructural decay, insecurity, hunger and untold hardship, such a humongous allegation must not be allowed to go under the usual APC carpet
Our party submits that since the APC has been overtly indicted, it should come clean by refunding the N40 billion to the public coffers from where it should be channeled to job creation projects without further delay.
The PDP invites Nigerians to note how the APC and its Federal Government have failed to account for various pillaging of public funds under the Buhari administration, including the N14 trillion stolen through various phony contracts in the NNPC as well as direct drawings from other government agencies such as the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
The PDP notes that if the trillions of naira stolen and stashed away in private purses of APC leaders are recovered and directed to development projects, our nation will not be in its present sorry state under the Buhari administration.
Signed:
Kola Ologbondiyan
National Publicity Secretary.
APC’s REACTION
Regarding some media reports and a statement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleging that a phantom N90 billion or N40 billion was released to the All Progressives Congress (APC) by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) for the Party’s 2019 election political campaigns, the allegation is hogwash.
The baseless allegations contained in the media reports and the subsequent statement by the PDP is an unintelligent and crude attempt at a smear campaign. Only the sponsors of the report believe their tales.
We call on the sponsors of the baseless allegation to resolve their confusion. Last time it was N90 billion, now it is N40 billion. We also challenge them to provide evidence from not only FIRS but any other government agency where the APC took one kobo for campaign.
The matter of dipping hands into public coffers as a matter of official policy ended with PDP. We recall that leaders of the PDP had contemplated changing the name of their party at a time because they were ashamed of their own record of sleaze.
We, however, refer the PDP and co-peddlers of falsehood to the records of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in terms of Cost of Collection accruing to FIRS and indeed the FIRS statement on the subject matter.
SIGNED:
Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu
National Publicity Secretary
All Progressives Congress (APC).
