The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval of one billion dollars to procure military equipment to fight insurgency without recourse to the National Assembly.
The party made the condemnation in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday in Abuja.
The money is to be drawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
The PDP urged the National Assembly to commence appropriate constitutional legislative actions against the government for unilaterally approving the release of the fund without allowing application of legislative instrument.
It also called on Nigerians to reject the approval, saying it was renewed attempt to loot the sum to finance the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s national convention and 2019 campaigns.
It expressed concern that the same administration that had claimed having technically defeated the insurgents still approved such amount to fight insurgency.
“Democracy thrives on constitutional processes of separation of powers,
due diligence and transparency and not on totalitarian tendencies.
“We therefore urge the National Assembly to look into the constitution and impose appropriate legislative instruments if any part of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been breached by this unilateral decision.
“We further urge the National Assembly to scrutinize the Constitution and other statute books for the purposes of strengthening the laws guiding the application of funds in our country.”
The party also demanded an independent investigation into the processes of release and utilization of all special funds for war against insurgency in the last three years. (NAN)