Osinbajo is a beneficiary of corruption, says PDP
The Peoples Democratic Party has accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) of being a beneficiary of corruption.
It said that Nigerians, particularly the
younger generation, were thoroughly disappointed in Osinbajo for
allegedly allowing himself to be used to divert public attention from
what it called the impunity and corruption that it alleged had saturated
the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said in a statement in Abuja on Sunday,
that as “a professor of Law, and an occupant of the exalted seat of the
Vice-President of our country, Osinbajo should know better than allowing
himself to be used to bandy figures and make unguarded statements at
public events.”
He cited the comment made by Osinbajo at
the APC ward congress in Lagos on Saturday, where he allegedly
described everyone else as “thieves.”
Osinbajo had claimed at the congress that unlike its predecessors, the present government would not steal government money.
Ologbondiyan alleged that the Vice-President had refused to bring honour to his office with his utterances.
He said, “We note that Vice-President
Osinbajo has refused to heed wise counsel and accord respect to his
office by desisting from such unguarded comments only because he has
been sucked in and entangled in the propaganda, deception, impunity and
sleaze that not only brought the administration to power, but have
become its trademark in the last three years.
“We specifically invite Nigerians to
note that all the assertions by the Vice-President, especially on the
performance of the Buhari administration as well as his allegations and
bandying of figures against the opposition, have remained
unsubstantiated.
“Moreover, Nigerians have noted that
Prof. Osinbajo, in his ‘sanctimony,’ has been silent on the exposed
corruption under the Buhari administration, including the leaked memo
detailing N9tn corrupt oil contracts at the NNPC, exposed sleaze in oil
subsidy deals, diversion of Internally Displaced Persons’ intervention
funds.
“These include the probe of a
misappropriated N18bn in the National Emergency Management Agency under
his direct supervision as well as other looting in government agencies
such as the National Health Insurance Scheme.
“The Vice-President is also ominously
silent about the prevailing high-handedness and human rights violations
and the aloofness of government resulting in daily bloodletting in
various parts of our country.”
Ologbondiyan urged Osinbajo to take heed, retreat to the inner room, and conduct a soul searching.
He said the Vice-President should also
note that propaganda and false accusations were not only abhorred by the
Holy Books, but would also not deliver the APC and “its incompetent
administration from the resolve of Nigerians to kick them out, come
2019.”
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Responding, the Presidency on Sunday
said the PDP was embarking on a shameless attempt to perfect denial and
defection over the large-scale corruption that characterised the past
administration in the country.
It said the present administration would
however remain focused and ensure that those who stole the nation’s
resources under the last administration were brought to justice.
The Senior Special Assistant to the
Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, disclosed this
in an interview with one of our correspondents in response to
Ologbondiyan’s accusation that Osinbajo is a beneficiary of corruption.
He said the opposition party was making
the unsubstantiated claims to confuse Nigerians and distract government
from prosecuting its members accused of corruption.
The presidential spokesman said
government would continue with the compilation of looters’ list and also
ensure that they were vigorously prosecuted.
Akande said, “This is a shameless
attempt by the PDP to perfect a strategy of denial and defection.
Nigerians are well aware of their antics.
“We are talking about an administration
where a sitting Central Bank governor alerted the nation to a missing
$20bn. Nigerians have not forgotten.
“The attempt that the PDP is making is
to deny and deflect. But we will stay focused. We are going forward in
prosecuting all these criminal looting of Nigeria’s resources. We will
not relent and we will bring them to account.
“We have already been listing details of
the looting and the looters. We will continue to do that and we will
press charges against them in court vigorously until we bring justice to
Nigerians because they deserve justice.
“The second point is that the difference
between us and them is that even though we are earning less, about 60
per cent less compared to the last administration, we are spending more
on infrastructure. We have spent almost N1.3tn on infrastructure, the
first time in this country. This is because we are not stealing like
they did.
“It is possible for us to have an
ambitious social investment programme where we have spent about N200bn
already in two years at a time we are earning less because we are not
stealing the resources of the people.
“They are bringing all these
insinuations, innuendos, unsubstantiated rumour and beer parlour gists
to confuse Nigerians. It is a waste of time. Let them know that we will
pursue all these criminal allegations until people are convicted. That
is the right of Nigerians and we will ensure that justice is brought to
Nigerians.”
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