PDP Alleges Plans By Cabal In Presidency To Re-loot $311m Repatriated Fund

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP has accused cabal in the presidency and the All Progressive Congrss, APC of plans to use fake subheads and duplicated projects to re-loot the recently repatriated $311 million from the US and Jersey.

Meridian Spy had reported Tuesday that the Nigeria government said the USD$311 million returned Abacha loot from the US and Jersey will be utilised for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development in the country.

Media aide, Garba Shehu said the ‘funds have already been allocated, and will be used in full, for vital and decades-overdue infrastructure development: The second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan and Abuja-Kaduna-Kano expressways – creating tens of thousands of Nigerian construction jobs and local skill which can then be useful in future projects.

He stated: “Part of the funds will also be invested in the Mambilla Power Project which, when completed, will provide electricity to some three million homes – over ten million citizens – in our country.”

But, in a statement signed by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Wednesday, the party claimed that ‘the cabal had perfected the use of fake subheads as nomenclatures to mislead those who repatriated the fund and pave way for the frittering of the money to their private pockets as they had done with earlier repatriated funds’.

The PDP demanded that the fund be surrendered to National Assembly for proper statutory appropriation and urge Nigerians to resist schemes by the cabal to prevent them from demanding explanations on the looting of repatriated funds.

The statement reads: “The Peoples Democratic party (PDP) has uncovered fresh plots by the cabal in the Presidency and the All Progressive Congress (APC) to use fake subheads and duplicated projects as ploy to re-loot the recently repatriated $311millon.

“The party signaled that the cabal had perfected the use of fake subheads as nomenclatures to mislead those who repatriated the fund and pave way for the frittering of the money to their private pockets as they had done with earlier repatriated funds.

“The PDP revealed that part of the strategy of the cabal is to hype hazy subheads and stampede the dissipation of the funds without the statutory approval of the National Assembly, which enables them to muddle up accountability processes, conceal their fraud and divert the attention of the unsuspecting public from the scam.

“The fraudulent dissipation of the funds will then be followed with false performance claims as well as blackmailing and intimidation of Nigerians demanding for both transparency and accountability in the handling of the money.

“The party noted that such had become the standard ruse for the cabal and APPC leaders, who also looted the earlier repatriated $322 million under the guise of sharing money to the poor in 19 states and had no answers to allegations that more than 90 percent of the 300,000 households listed as beneficiaries were phony family names.

“Nigerians would recall how the claims of the APC Government was rubbished by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who had alerted the nation that the N500 billion Social Investment Programme of the Buhari administration was hugely shrouded in corruption and that bulk of the money did not get to the poor and vulnerable.

“Furthermore, the Federal Government had failed to publish the details of the alleged APC leaders who own the consulting firms that was allegedly paid billions of naira up front, as consultancy fee for the “sharing” of the money which was not also passed through the constitutionally required approval of the National Assembly.

“The APC-led Federal Government had also failed to account for the $308 million repatriated in February, for which it cannot point to any project, but rather faced with allegations of unbridled looting by the cabal and certain APC leaders, including those exposed to be receiving huge percentages from repatriated funds.

“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that the APC government had remained silent on the report by the US Department of State that the Federal Government plots to funnel this repatriated money to certain individuals connected to the APC.

“The report had exposed that the Federal Government was even in the process of funneling $100 million of the funds to Kebbi State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, the Chairman of APC Governors Forum, who was reportedly indicted by the US for allegedly helping in transferring billions of dollar out of the country during the military era.

“It is also strange that the Federal Government is keeping an ominous silence on how much, in line with its style, would be farmed out to vested interests as legal fees on the repatriated funds.

“The PDP counsels that this repatriated $311 million should be safeguarded from the antics of the APC cabal.

“Our party demands that the fund should be surrendered to the National Assembly for proper statutory appropriation and urge Nigerians to resist schemes by the cabal to prevent them from demanding explanations on the looting of repatriated funds.”