Alleged N15 Trillion Theft Under Buhari: APC Challenges For Facts, PDP Replies

The All Progressives Congress APC and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP were on Wednesday night engaged in a war of words over the claim by the opposition party that the APC had stolen N15 trillion of public funds since it came to power in 2015.

While challenging the opposition party to produce facts to back its claims, the APC said that the general public had ignored the claims of the PDP as churned out in the media space.

The PDP in a quick riposte invited the APC to defend various allegations made against ruling party officials in the public space. The PDP taunted the APC for allegedly defending corruption.

APC in a statement on Wednesday by the National Secretary of its Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe noted that in the past weeks, “the PDP has laboured to canvass tales of a phantom stolen N15 trillion public funds in the media”.

According to the ruling party, “it is not surprising that the generality of discerning Nigerians have ignored the unfounded and baseless allegation because it is clear that only the PDP believes its deviant tales. We invite the PDP to argue with the facts”.

It said from petroleum subsidy rackets, unexecuted electricity, CCTV, roads, arms contracts to the fight against insurgency, the culture of outright theft, misappropriation and diversion of public funds became the mainstay and pastime of successive PDP administrations. “The PDP is obviously hungover these forgotten and discarded years of the locust. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria has left that era.

“The most ardent critics of the President Buhari and the APC government he leads will definitely chorus one fact: This government is unsparing and does not condone thieves within and outside government. Nigeria is definitely not where it was in terms of the pervasive corruption, the impunity that ultimately ended the PDP administrations 16 years of the locust.

“With the implementation of Treasury Single Account, Biometric Verification Number (BVN), Whistle Blowing policy among other initiatives undertaken by the President Buhari administration, the fight against corruption remains one of the strongest successes of this administration. For a rudderless party blinded by its tactless opposition politics, we don’t expect the PDP to see the impact and commendations these initiatives have received and the increased government savings it has brought to fund ongoing and critical infrastructure projects across the country”, APC stated.

Responding, the PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondinyan taunted the APC for supposedly defending corruption and not facing up to the claim that APC leaders siphoned and frittered over N15 trillion from the national coffers.

“Our party holds that this is a classical case of corruption in the APC fighting back and justifying its loathsome activities.

“The PDP asserts the shameful attempt by the APC National Caretaker Committee to justify and provide cover for looters in their party at a time over 40 million Nigerians have lost their means of livelihood, with many more living in abject poverty because of the unbridled widespread looting by APC leaders, further confirms that the APC is an irredeemable citadel of corruption.

“It is not surprising that the Governor Mai Mai Buni-led APC leadership has become the mouthpiece for the treasury looters in their party, whose conduct has brought our nation to its knees in the last five years.

“We invite the new spokesperson of corruption in the APC to answer to the leaked NNPC official memo which detailed how a whooping N9.3 trillion was stolen by alleged APC leaders as well as the reported N1.1 trillion worth of crude allegedly stolen with 18 unregistered ship belonging to certain APC leaders.

“This is in addition to the reports in the public space of over N3 trillion stolen from various agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS), National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the Social Investment Programmes where the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, exposed that N500 billion was siphoned as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in which a very top APC government official was indicted.

“The APC spokesperson of corruption should answer the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) over its recent report that unemployment had escalated to an alarming 33.3% under the corrupt and treasury looting APC administration; a revelation that shows that claims of massive job creation by the deceptive APC are mere statistic hoax.

“Furthermore, the APC mouthpiece of corruption should respond to reports by credible international bodies such as Transparency International (TI) that corruption in Nigeria has worsened under the APC, with our nation falling 13 places in the corruption index since 2015 under the watch of their “Mr. Integrity”

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