The Peoples Democratic Party has alleged that corruption is ongoing under President Muhammadu Buhari.
It said despite the “holier than thou” posture of the present Federal Government, the opposition party has what it described as “incontrovertible evidence that grave corrupt practices are ongoing and allowed to fester by associates and cronies of government.”
The former ruling party listed these associates to include former and present governors of the All Progressives Congress and those who it said financed the Presidential campaign of the APC with “stolen state funds.”
The party said this has created a system that is neck deep in corruption, while the government hoodwinks unsuspecting public with propaganda.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, however, said the party was not averse to the fight against corruption.
He nevertheless said “the onus lies on the APC-led Federal Government to wage a credible holistic anti-corruption war by first purging itself of unclean association and coming out clear on sleazes already going on in government quarters since it took office in May.
“Whereas the PDP restates its respect for the person and office of the President as well as our support for the war against corruption, it is incumbent on us to alert Nigerians of the prevailing circumstances around this government that are capable of fundamentally undermining good governance if left unchecked.
“Charity, they say begins at home. For the APC-led Government, it has now become a question of ‘physician, heal thyself.’
“Every discerning mind knows that this administration is not executing a credible holistic war against corruption because it is a product of corruption, surrounded by corrupt persons; a factor apparently responsible for its obvious blind eyes to huge sleazes now being perpetrated in government agencies by persons claiming closeness to the President.”
He said it was indeed alarming that in so short a time, an administration that rode to power on claims of anti-corruption credentials had broken the records in constitutional violations and abuse of regulations, especially in its adamant stance to run a government without the statutory components of a full cabinet, thereby creating loopholes for APC’s interests to invade key government agencies for inflated concessions, allocations, jobs and other financial sleazes.
Metuh said, “How else can one explain the deliberate constitutional violations in the appointment of heads of financial handling federal agencies; such as the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Asset Management Cooperation of Nigeria without due process of ministerial consultations and legislative clearance, as the case may be?
“Is this a scheme to open up these key finance institutions for malpractices and turn them into cash cows for APC interests?
“This is in addition to ongoing maneuverings in the oil sector, where clandestine moves are on to award oil refining licenses to cronies without the due process of open bidding, as well as statutory guidelines and checks by the Department of Petroleum Resources.”
He called on Nigerians to note that the APC-led administration has not been forthcoming on how it has been depleting the funds it inherited in the Excess Crude Account and other government savings.
He, therefore, challenged the Buhari-led APC administration to show integrity and commitment in the fight against corruption by first cleaning its house and coming out clear on the numerous sleazes going on presently under its watch.
