Ime Akpan
The presidency has given a psychological explanation to the statement issued by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) asking President Muhammadu Buhari to explain the whereabouts of the $1bn (about N360bn) taken from the Excess Crude Account to fund for security funding.
The party had alleged that the Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) diverted certain funds meant for security to funding of “2019 campaign activities of the APC while our troops languished in the (war) front.”
Taking to its verified Twitter handle @OfficialPDPNig on Sunday, the PDP had tweeted:
“The Peoples Democratic Party of Nigeria draws the attention of Nigerians to the shocking confession by the National Security Adviser, Gen. Babagana Mongunu (rtd), that he is not aware of the whereabouts or disbursement of the $1bn drawn from the Excess Crude Account by the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency in 2017 for security purposes.
“This confession by the NSA, who coordinates the security architecture of the nation, directly places a huge burden on President Buhari’s doorsteps over reported stealing and diversion of funds meant for security, while insurgency, banditry, killings and kidnapping fester in the land under his watch.
“The revelation by NSA further vindicates our initial alarm that the
“APC-led administration is overtly corrupt, deceptive and unreliable in the handling of the affairs of our nation.
“It further validates the stance of the PDP that agents of the Buhari
“Presidency and the APC were hiding under the guise of security to siphon $1bn from the ECA.
“This, perhaps, informed the desperation by the cabal to draw from the account without recourse to statutory due process of appropriation by the National Assembly.
“From Gen. Mongunu’s confession, Nigerians can further see why our nation is daily confronted with disturbing videos and reports of our fighting troops protesting their neglect and inadequate equipping, leading to their vulnerability in the fronts.
“Now that the National Security Adviser has declared that he is not aware of the whereabouts of funds, the burden, straightaway, lies squarely on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately address the nation on how the money was handled.
“This is especially as there are already allegations in the public space that certain funds meant for security were diverted for 2019 campaign activities of the All Progressives Congress, while our troops languished in the (war) front.
“Our party had always alerted Nigerians that the APC administration was insincere in the handling of the ECA fund, leading to our demand in 2017 for the National Assembly to investigate the handling of the $1bn.”
Countering the allegation, spokesman for the president, Mr. Garba Shehu said in a statement in Abuja that PDP’s unverifiable allegation is an indication that it (PDP) is suffering from what he described as “socio-emotional distress.”
He said the president did not spend the $1 billion ECA meant for security on the 2019 general elections as alleged by the opposition party.
“The PDP is under a socio-emotional distress. They think that all governments in the world run on the basis of freewheeling looting as they did their own,” he said.
Giving account of how the money was spent, Shehu said: “It’s on record that the Buhari administration paid about $490 million for a dozen Super Tucano fighter aircraft in a direct, government-to-government (no contractors or commission agents) transaction with government of the United States.
“Various other military procurements have been made. Balance of expenditure stands at about $880 million or so.
“Barring considerations of national security, the details of the stage of implementation, the procurements made and the suppliers will be obtained later.
“The PDP spent defence procurement funds on their failed 2015 political campaigns as proven in court. That is not to say every succeeding government, more so one led by a Buhari will do the same.”
Barring considerations of national security, Shehu said the details of the stage of implementation, the procurement made and the suppliers would be obtained and made available today (Monday).
