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Pro-Buhari group slams Ayu over alleged return of N405m loot meant for arms procurement

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The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO), on Monday, slammed the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, for allegedly secretly returning public cash he obtained from former National Security Adviser (NSA) Sambo Dasuki.

BMO said the act validated its stance in November 2021, that Ayu was a significant beneficiary of the PDP-era huge robbery of the national treasury, in a statement signed by Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke.

“Our attention has just been drawn to the surreptitious return of stolen funds amounting to N405million by no other than the leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Iyorchia Ayu.

“The funds were said to have been returned a few months ago after authorities seized a mansion belonging to the former Senate President, but as soon as he paid up, the property was said to have been returned to him.

“This information that has just seeped into the public space confirms our position in a statement issued in November last year and titled ‘Ayu, not different from previous corruption-tainted PDP leaders-BMO’, in which we recalled that the PDP Chairman received N350m from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) account of the ONSA, ostensibly for security consultancy.

“But fresh facts gleaned from the Presidential Committee on recovery showed that the PDP chairman actually received N405m without offering any service to the country or government at a time that insurgents were threatening to overrun the country,” the group said.

BMO added that Ayu’s antecedent as an alleged beneficiary of looted public funds was enough qualification for him to lead the PDP.

Read also: PDP suffering from ‘memory loss’ after 16-year maladministration —Pro-Buhari group

“We maintain that the main opposition party is currently headed by an individual who crookedly benefited from funds meant for arms procurement.

“In saner climes, he would have been removed from office, but knowing the gathering that PDP is, Ayu earned his stripes because only a politician that is adept at illegally feeding on public funds could lead such a group with the notoriety the former ruling party has.

“So it beggars belief to hear the PDP chairman and his colleagues pontificating about security challenges that they laid the foundation for in the manner they looted funds meant to boost the operational readiness of our security personnel.

“We make bold to say that this is what the former ruling party stood for and which its members have missed in the last seven years that President Muhammadu Buhari had been in the saddle,” it said.

BMO implored Nigerians to be cautious when persons like Ayu speak about security issues in various regions of the country, noting that he is one of those whose actions have prevented the military from receiving critical infrastructure support in the fight against terrorists and criminal groups.

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