N14trn stolen under Buhari administration, PDP alleges

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has alleged that about N14 trillion has been stolen under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The PDP made the allegation in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan on Sunday, adding that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and President Muhammadu Buhari were desperate to remain in power in order to prevent investigations into the matter.

According to Ologbondiyan, the stolen funds included the N9tn allegedly stolen from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, as detailed in the leaked Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s memo; the over N1.4tn alleged oil subsidy sleaze and the N1.1tn worth of crude allegedly diverted using 18 unregistered companies.

Others, according to the statement included the N33bn National Emergency Management Agency fund, and the over N18bn allegedly stolen out of the N48bn approved by the National Assembly in the 2017 budget for the rehabilitation of internally displaced persons in the North-East among others.

The party also claimed that the unbridled borrowing by the Buhari administration has led to the monumental increase in the nation’s debt from N12.12tn in 2015 to N24.39tn in 2018.

According to Ologbondiyan, the Buhari administration borrowed N12.27tn in three years without anything to show for it.

Read also: Atiku vows to reclaim mandate, calls on judiciary to dispense justice without fear

“The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Presidency and the APC are desperate to remain in power at all costs, so as to continue to exploit Nigerians, protect the APC corrupt leaders, cover their incompetence and conceal the humongous sleazes in their administration.

“This is the reason the APC and the cabal at the incompetent Buhari Presidency resorted to violence, intimidation as well as manipulations and alteration of results at the Independent National Electoral Commission to rig the February 23 presidential election.

“This also explains why the APC’s agents and certain presidential aides have been making desperate efforts to distract the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal and derail the course of justice by making and promoting baseless judicial interpretations and externalising the proceedings of the court.

“The PDP urges Nigerians not to despair but continue to be steadfast in the aspiration for the recovery of the stolen presidential mandate at the tribunal, as this is the only way to return our nation to the path of peace, national unity and a vibrant economy”, the statement read in part.

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