Corruption Ongoing Under Buhari – PDP Says

The Peoples Democratic Party has alleged
that corruption is ongoing under President
Muhammadu Buhari.
It said despite the “holier than thou”
posture of the present Federal
Government, the opposition party has what
it described as “incontrovertible evidence
that grave corrupt practices are ongoing
and allowed to fester by associates and
cronies of government.”
The former ruling party listed these
associates to include former and present
governors of the All Progressives Congress
and those who it said financed the
Presidential campaign of the APC with
“stolen state funds.”
The party said this has created a system
that is neck deep in corruption, while the
government hoodwinks unsuspecting
public with propaganda.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief
Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja on
Thursday, however, said the party was not
averse to the fight against corruption.
He nevertheless said “the onus lies on the
APC-led Federal Government to wage a
credible holistic anti-corruption war by
first purging itself of unclean association
and coming out clear on sleazes already
going on in government quarters since it
took office in May.
“Whereas the PDP restates its respect for
the person and office of the President as
well as our support for the war against
corruption, it is incumbent on us to alert
Nigerians of the prevailing circumstances
around this government that are capable of
fundamentally undermining good
governance if left unchecked.
“Charity, they say begins at home. For the
APC-led Government, it has now become a
question of ‘physician, heal thyself.’
“Every discerning mind knows that this
administration is not executing a credible
holistic war against corruption because it
is a product of corruption, surrounded by
corrupt persons; a factor apparently
responsible for its obvious blind eyes to
huge sleazes now being perpetrated in
government agencies by persons claiming
closeness to the President.”
He said it was indeed alarming that in so
short a time, an administration that rode to
power on claims of anti-corruption
credentials had broken the records in
constitutional violations and abuse of
regulations, especially in its adamant
stance to run a government without the
statutory components of a full cabinet,
thereby creating loopholes for APC’s
interests to invade key government
agencies for inflated concessions,
allocations, jobs and other financial
sleazes.
Metuh said, “How else can one explain the
deliberate constitutional violations in the
appointment of heads of financial handling
federal agencies; such as the Federal Inland
Revenue Service and the Asset
Management Cooperation of Nigeria
without due process of ministerial
consultations and legislative clearance, as
the case may be?
“Is this a scheme to open up these key
finance institutions for malpractices and
turn them into cash cows for APC
interests?
“This is in addition to ongoing
maneuverings in the oil sector, where
clandestine moves are on to award oil
refining licenses to cronies without the due
process of open bidding, as well as
statutory guidelines and checks by the
Department of Petroleum Resources.”
He called on Nigerians to note that the
APC-led administration has not been
forthcoming on how it has been depleting
the funds it inherited in the Excess Crude
Account and other government savings.
He, therefore, challenged the Buhari-led
APC administration to show integrity and
commitment in the fight against corruption
by first cleaning its house and coming out
clear on the numerous sleazes going on
presently under its watch.
Source: PunchNg