PDP SEEKS LEGISLATIVE ACTION AGAINST BUHARI FOR OKAYING $1BN WITHDRAWAL FROM ECA
PDP SEEKS
LEGISLATIVE ACTION AGAINST BUHARI FOR OKAYING $1BN WITHDRAWAL FROM ECA
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has asked the National Assembly to immediately
commence action against President Muhammed Buhari for gross misconduct over
what it said was his unilateral approval for the release of $1 billion from the
Excess Crude Account for the procurement of military equipment to fight the
insurgency in the North-east without getting legislative approval.
The
party also urged Nigerians to reject and resist the renewed attempt by the
presidency to allegedly loot $1 billion from the national coffers to finance
Buhari’s interests in the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s national convention
and the 2019 general election.
At the
National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in December last year, the federal
government was given the nod by the state governors to withdraw $1 billion from
the $2.31 billion left in the ECA to fight insurgency in the North-east.
The NEC
decision, however, led to criticism from both the opposition PDP and some of
the governors, notably Ekiti State Governor Ayodele Fayose, at the time.
The National Assembly also joined the fray, saying it must be consulted before the withdrawal could be made.
The National Assembly also joined the fray, saying it must be consulted before the withdrawal could be made.
Since
then, nothing was heard of the money until the defence minister, Col. Mansur
Dan-Ali (rtd), disclosed last Wednesday that the president recently gave the
approval for its use.
Dan-Ali
was also silent on if the state Houses of Assembly had given the federal
government the green light to withdraw the funds from the ECA, even after the
governors had given the approval at the NEC meeting for the $1 billion to be
taken from the account.
The
PDP, in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity issued Secretary, Kola
Ologbondiyan, said its investigation had revealed that the presidency willfully
sidestepped the National Assembly so as to avoid legislative scrutiny and
accountability, and in order to pave the way for the diversion of the $1
billion for selfish partisan purposes.
“It is
a notorious fact that the presidency and the APC have been plotting to loot
this $I billion from our heavily depleted Excess Crude Account since last year,
using the guise of fighting insurgency.
“This
is the same Buhari administration that has been boasting of having technically
defeated the insurgents. This is also the administration that is not known to
have exhausted the subsisting budgetary allocations for defence.
“Nigerians
are thoroughly disappointed that President Buhari, the same African Union (AU)
‘Anti-corruption Champion’, who swore to be above board and to defend the
constitution will allow himself to fall for the temptation of resorting to ways
and means that are totally at variance with the laws and all democratic tenets.
“Democracy
thrives on constitutional processes of separation of powers, due diligence and
transparency, and not on totalitarian tendencies.
“PDP
believes the president, as a leader, reasonably ought to have known that he is
in not above the law.
“We
therefore urge the National Assembly to look into the constitution and impose
the appropriate legislative instruments against the president, if any part of
the 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been breached by this unilateral
decision.
“We
further urge the National Assembly to scrutinise the constitution and other
statute books for the purposes of strengthening the laws guiding the
application of funds in our country, particularly under this inherently corrupt
and incompetent administration.
“Moreover,
since it has come to light that the Buhari administration is using the fight
against the insurgency as a conduit to siphon funds, as evinced in the alleged
looting of the N18 billion internally displaced persons funds, we demand an
independent investigation into the processes of release and utilisation of all
special funds for the war against the insurgency in the last three years,” the
party said.
PDP
also said APC is in tatters and had lost the “enormous goodwill” that brought
it to power in 2015 after failing in all its promises to Nigerians.