PDP demands NIMASA chief’s suspension over alleged N1.5tr fraud

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Wednesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately suspend the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh over alleged N1.5 trillion fraud.

The Publisher of Pointblank news, Jackson Ude, had claimed in a report that N1.5 trillion was traced to the NIMASA chief.

According to the report, the amount was found in a Fidelity Account linked to Jamoh.

However, the NIMASA chief in a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday asked the commission to investigate the claim.

In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP cautioned the President on the danger of allowing Jamoh to remain in office in the face of the fraud allegations.

The party described the reported fraud as yet “another sad episode of the unending tale of stinking rot in the Buhari’s government where officials, relations, cronies and persons close to the President have engaged in shameless looting of the treasury under the protective cover of government.”

The statement read: “In the face of these humongous fraud allegations, the Buhari Presidency has further heightened apprehensions in the public space that it is shielding fraudulent individuals because of their reported closeness to Mr. President.

“It is despicable that the Buhari administration that promised zero tolerance for corruption is rather the sanctuary for treasury looters, who as ministers, presidential aides, heads of parastatals, APC leaders, and their relatives are daily pillaging the coffers of Ministries, Department, and Agencies (MDAs) and stealing trillions of naira belonging to the Nigerian people.

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“Earlier this month, our nation was jolted by the revelation of a $65 million (N31 billion) fraud in the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria in which President Buhari’s reportedly estranged son-in-law, Gimba Yau Kumo, was involved.

“This FMBN revelation came on the heels of allegations of looting of over N165 billion in the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) under the ministerial purview of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, and the suspended Managing Director, Hadiza Bala Usman.

“This is in addition to allegations of involvement of the wife of the Transportation Minister in the exposed N48 billion contract scam currently rocking the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“Now that the Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Jamoh, had yielded to the demands of investigation by the EFCC, our party holds that he should immediately step aside so that the anti-graft agency will have unhindered access to vital documents on the matter.

“The PDP also charges the EFCC not to succumb to blackmails but move in and commence a rounded investigation on the alleged fraud in NIMASA, including the reported movement of public funds from the Treasury Single Account to private individuals, using the agency as a cover.”

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