The President Muhammadu Buhari administration has hit back at the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for claiming that the present administration is relooting $322 million recently returned to the nation by Switzerland from the infamous Abacha loot.
In a statement titled “Probe Looting Of Tradermoni, Anchor Borrower, IDP Funds, Others”, PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation on Wednesday urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “open investigation into the alleged looting of the repatriated $322 million (about N115 billion), by the Buhari Presidency, under the cover of distributing the money to the poor”.
But in a counterstatement signed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, the presidency accused the PDP of mudslinging to score cheap political points.
The presidency explained that the recovered loot was being expended on its Social Investment Programme (SIP).
“The USD 322m recovered is being used to make the Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT of a monthly amount of N5,000 to more than 300,000 poor homes across the nation under the Social Investment Programme introduced by the Buhari administration,” the statement read in part.
The statement titled, “PDP’s Irresponsible Lies” read, “The People’s Democratic Party, PDP has continued spreading lies about the Buhari administration in the mistaken assumption that its toga of corruption will dissipate if it succeeded in black painting every other person as corrupt. The strategy is to make corruption appear as normative and that everyone is equally involved.
They think by so doing, Nigerians will forgive them for their sins. This is a huge mistake.
“The PDP has become an ill-wind on the country today and the elections next year present the citizens an excellent opportunity to save the country from it.
“We can’t imagine a sane organisation shamelessly telling Nigerians that President Buhari is looting, as they themselves did of the recovered loot, the USD 322m lately recovered from the Abacha family. This is an irresponsible lie.
“The USD 322m recovered is being used to make the Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT of a monthly amount of N5,000 to more than 300,000 poor homes across the nation under the Social Investment Programme introduced by the Buhari administration. This is in line with the Memorandum of Understanding, signed between the governments of Nigeria and Switzerland as a condition for releasing the funds.
As part of the MoU, the World Bank is monitoring the application of the funds.
“It is also important that the World Bank has equally given an additional facility to support the on-going cash transfers.
“Nigerians are hereby advised to be watchful of what comes out from the opposition, not to be misled into voting for a party that sees nothing wrong with corruption and would rather have everyone drenched in its colours, as they irretrievably are.”
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