The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has again accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of stealing N10.1 from the national treasury despite its acclaimed shortage of funds to finance the 2021 budget.
While President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has often pointed to fall in oil price as the reason for Nigeria’s rising debt profile, the PDP said the administration is encouraging corruption.
The PDP, in a statement issued on Monday, said N9.6 trillion ($20 billion) and another N500 billion belonging to the Treasury Single Account (TSA), have been “allegedly diverted to APC interests”.
“This fresh N10.1 trillion scandal is beside the earlier N15 trillion, reportedly stolen by APC leaders from various government agencies, including the stealing of N9.3 trillion as detailed in the leaked NNPC memo, bringing the sum looted in these cases to N25.1 trillion,” the party spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan recalled.
Mr Ologbondiyan said the volume of corruption cases filed against officials of the current administration was a clear indication that Nigeria had been seized by “ferocious economic brigands in very high places”,
The statement said, “under the APC, our nation has become one of the most corrupt countries in the world, having dropped 13 places since 2015 and plunging to a putrid 149th place on the corruption perception index as released by Transparency International (TI).
“Only recently, Nigerians were shocked by revelations that trillions of naira meant for purchase of arms to defend our nation could not be traced.
“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the Buhari Presidency and the APC has not been able to account for the N15 trillion earlier reportedly looted from various agencies of government, including the stolen N9.3 trillion NNPC fund, the N1.1 trillion worth of crude stolen with 18 unregistered ships as well as various oil subsidy sleaze.
“This is in addition to the N3 trillion reportedly stolen from various agencies including the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in which a very top APC government official was indicted, as well as the Social Investment Programme, where the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, exposed that N500 billion was siphoned.”