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PDP Denies Squandering $500bn …Urges Buhari To Visit Dapchi Over Abducted School Girls
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described the claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that it squandered the sum of $500bn oil proceeds within the 16 years it was in power, as baseless and unfounded.
The party urged the President not to allow his aides railroad him into peddling such “Groundless allegations and bandying of unverified figures,” as doing that could dent his personality.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement yesterday, said the figures alluded to by the President does not add up or reflect the actual oil related profile of the nation during the period and urged the President not to allow his handlers set him up for public ridicule.
“The entire country is aware that the Presidency is on a feverish mood over their bound-to-fail 2019 re-election bid for which they have resorted to making spurious claims against the PDP even when it is clear to Nigerians that the PDP has since rebranded while preponderance of those who mismanaged the nation’s resources have now found a safe haven in the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The party challenged President Buhari to name one corrupt person in the repositioned and rebranded PDP and it will hand him a list of an army of corrupt persons who are hiding in his APC including those who funded his 2015 presidential campaigns with stolen money in addition to his many cronies who are now frittering away billion of naira under his watch.
“We know that President Buhari did not source his figures, otherwise we would have directly taken him to task on the veracity of his claims and detestable image of his party.
We, however ask, is the President and his handlers not aware of the humongous corruption going on under the Buhari Presidency? What have they to say to the recent Transparency International (TI) report which shows that corruption has worsened under the Buhari administration? What have they to say about the official memo detailing shady oil deals to the tune of N9 trillion ($25 billion) at the NNPC which is directly under the purview of the President as Minister of Petroleum resources?
“The Presidency is yet to address its complicity in the heavy sleazes in the National Health Insurance Scheme where billions of naira have allegedly been siphoned by their agents, in spite of the Treasury Single Account (TSA); the alleged diversion of N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil and the frittering of billions of naira meant for rehabilitation of Internally Displaced Persons in the northeast, all to service APC interests?
“Nigerians are alarmed by the President’s claim that his administration inherited a collapsing economy when it is common knowledge that he was actually handed a thriving economy, ranked the third largest in Africa and one of the fastest growing in the world,” the statement read in part.
The party also mocked President’s Buhari’s monetary policy, asking “Has Mr. President forgotten that when he assumed office in 2015, the value of our naira was N185 to 1USD? Nigerians are aware that the naira went as low as N510 to 1USD and in case Mr. President is not aware, Nigerians are also ridiculing his much-touted strengthening of the naira.”
Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to show true “leadership by visiting troubled Dapchi community, Yobe State.”
The PDP urged Buhari to “halt the feasting with the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains in Aso Villa”, and visit the area to get first-hand information on the “circumstances surrounding the abduction of the 110 school girls under his watch.”
A statement titled, “Mr President Sir, Go to Dapchi” signed by PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, yesterday, said if Buhari heeds the advise, he will “bridge the disconnect between him and Nigerians, who daily lament the aloofness of their leader.”
The statement reads: “It was disheartening that while the parents of our abducted daughters are wailing and the insurgents are fleeing deeper, the President and his APC leaders are busy feasting in the Presidential Villa and plotting their bound-to-fail 2019 re-election campaign.
“President Buhari has completely reneged on his assurances, before his election, to be a father to all and to lead the fight against insurgency from the fronts.
“Nigerians are worried that he has now allowed himself to be holed in the safety and luxury of the Presidential Villa while citizens are being slaughtered and taken captives by marauders and insurgents.
“Nigerians are shocked that the presidential mandate of protecting lives has now been reduced to a cosmetic dispatching of ministers and persons with no knowledge of security, including those known to be falsifying performance indices, on mere fact-finding missions, while machinery for proactive security measures is left unattended.
“Today, Nigerians are daily slaughtered and taken as captives because those who have the direct mandate to protect them are more interested in their ill-lucked 2019 re-election ambition while the citizens are left to whatever fate that befalls them”.
“Painfully, Nigerians are yet to see any concrete action taken by the Buhari Presidency to apprehend the perpetrators of the gruesome killings in Benue, Taraba, Zamfara, Adamawa, Borno, Plateau, Nasarawa and Yobe, among other states, where our citizens are being hacked down by marauders and insurgents.
“They are yet to see any step so far taken, outside empty promises, to end or even reduce the carnage.
“Most appalling is the fact that while the parents of our 110 abducted Dapchi daughters are still wailing and insurgents driving into deeper recesses, the President and his party men are busy feasting in the Presidential Villa and plotting their 2019 campaigns; of course, with funds meant for the wellbeing of the people and our nation.
“Indeed, this President Buhari-led and discredited APC-controlled Federal Government holds Nigerians in total disdain.
“This administration is completely insensitive to the plight of the people, and it is not a surprise that majority of Nigerians are more than prepared to reject them at the polls come 2019.
“We, therefore, plead with President Buhari to show leadership by immediately calling off his feasting in the Presidential Villa, and take that bold step to visit Dapchi, where a soothing word from him will be a balm for the distraught community.
“We also urge him to take decisive steps to scale up action for the return of our girls in spite of the huge speculations that have filled the air.
“The President must keep his words to lead from the fronts,” the PDP added.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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