PDP insists Reps halted probes in order to cover corruption in APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership of the House of Representatives of patronising corruption.

The party made the allegation while reiterating its position that the APC leadership of the Reps shut down the sitting of committees carrying out investigation on the executive in order to cover corruption in the APC administration and shield corrupt APC leaders.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan on Monday, the PDP vowed that “no amount of vituperations, hauling of insults, threats and secret phone calls from the APC leadership of the House of Representatives and its agents will make it jettison its stance against the deliberate design to frustrate the legislative committees and put a wedge in the way of the fight against corruption.”

The statement read in details, “Our party holds that, if anything, the unnecessary and unwarranted resort to invectives, name calling and slurs by the APC leadership of the House, instead of addressing the issues, has only confirmed our position that corruption is fighting back from within the legislative and executive government circles of the APC administration.

“It is, to say the least, disgraceful that instead of owning up, apologizing to Nigerians and allowing the committees to continue with their investigations, the APC leadership of the House is rather laboring to divert attention from its culpability in patronizing corruption.

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“The PDP believes that when matters of national interest such as investigation of allegations of corruption are before the legislature, no attempt, overtly or covertly, should be made to undermine or sabotage them, let alone ordering a forceful shutdown of investigation.

“Indeed, nothing in parliamentary rules makes its sacrosanct that legislative committees cannot sit during parliamentary recess.”

The Reps on Monday, had claimed in response to the PDP on this same matter, that it suspended the probes because “it has never been the practice of the House to continue with committee engagements while on annual recess, especially with the current COVID-19 pandemic.”

But the PDP in its reply to the Reps said that “the attempt by APC leadership in the House to mislead Nigerians with skewed interpretations that suit its purpose of frustrating the fight against corruption is completely condemnable and amount to a huge disservice to Nigerians.”

The opposition party added, “In fact, it is on record that during the days of PDP leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly, even when the House of Representatives is on recess and crucial national issues such as the on-going investigations emerge, the leadership would recall legislators and relevant committees to attend to them.

“We in the PDP stand with Nigerians to insist that if indeed the Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila-led leadership is not sabotaging the basic responsibility of the House of Representatives, which is its oversight on the executive, it should immediately retract the statement issued by the House Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa, apologise to Nigerians and allow the committees to continue their investigations without the interferences by the leadership of the House.”

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