Corruption: Jonathan May Run Economy Aground –APC

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State Chapter, has alerted Nigerians to the great danger that lies ahead as a result of the rising tide of corruption under President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and the government’s failure to take concrete measures to reverse the trend.

Going by the rate of looting currently going on at the centre, Nigerians should not be surprised if the present administration completely runs the economy aground before leaving office after the 2015 elections, the APC warned.

A statement yesterday, signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the state Interim Chairm, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, said that “the whopping sum of $29billion which the NNPC has failed to remit to the Federation Account, the missing N24billion Police Pension Fund and the inability of the Head of Service of the Federation to count for N340million, the billions of Naira allegedly spent on unverifiable fuel subsidy, just as the N10billion allegedly wasted by Minister of Petroleum Resources, Deziani Allison-Madueke for maintenance of a private jet, Challenger 850 Aircraft and its crew in the last two years, constitute economic crimes.

The statement said that in the face of all these, millions of Nigerians go about without employment or means of livelihood, and charged the administration to retrace its steps to save the nation from plunging into economic meltdown.

It indicated that the looting spree has continued while we Nigerians are inundated on daily basis with shrinking public finances in the face of ever increasing national needs, thus reducing the quality of governance and depriving Nigerians of the much-needed dividends of democracy.

The statement tasked Nigerians to “rise up and fight corruption as we cannot continue to watch while our common patrimony is being looted with impunity on a daily basis”.

Rivers APC, therefore, commended the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) for the strong position it took against the country’s worsening corruption situation during its Third Retreat held last week in Lagos.

“The retreat was an eye opener that demonstrated how a visionary and patriotic pressure group should conduct itself. The issues of corruption, the menace of insecurity and unemployment ravaging our nation were put in the front burner by the NGF and solutions proffered to them.

“Unfortunately, we have an inept administration at the centre which will likely not consider these revolutionary strategies advocated during the retreat”, the party said.

“We, however, urge Nigerians not to give up hope as, by the grace of God, these great minds in the NGF would have dislodged the visionless PDP at the centre by the time the 2015 elections are concluded to give Nigerians the seemingly elusive dividends of democracy and take the country out of her present woes”, it added.

The party also congratulated “the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-led NGF on its successful Third Retreat”, and urged it “not to relent in its efforts to ensure that we have a better Nigeria irrespective of the obvious obstacles orchestrated by the corrupt PDP government at the centre”.