APC blasts PDP’s attacks against anti-graft war

The APC asked the anti-corruption agencies to ignore the attacks of the opposition party PDP

 against the anti-graft war of the Pres. Buhari's government.

In a statement by the National Secretary of the APC, Mai Mala Buni on Saturday, it stated that the APC was aware of the plan by PDP and their agents to dismantle the efforts of the present administration over the ongoing corruption cases that is being investigated.

 

Buni said that the APC is asking anti-corruption agencies not to be distracted by attacks from the PDP and that the present govt will continue to employ all legal means to bring to book all looters to book.

He said:

“It is clear that the PDP is out of sync and out of step with the generality of Nigerians on the clamour to bring to book all looters of public funds. The days of impunity are over.

“We state that the PDP and their agents do not have the luxury of dictating how the present administration and anti-corruption agencies carries out its legitimate duty of catching looters of public funds, as long as it conforms with the rule of law.”

Charge Metuh to court if you have evidence of fraud against him, Fayose tells Buhari

Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has challenged President Mohammadu Buhari to direct the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to charge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh to court if the commission was sure of evidences of fraud against him, saying; “the EFCC appears to be operating a system in which an accused person is

first arrested, detained endlessly while the anti-corruption agency goes about looking for evidence.”
Governor Fayose, who maintained his support for a genuine fight against corruption, challenged the EFCC to also act on petitions submitted to it against All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains and President Buhari’s election sponsors.

Speaking through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose cautioned that nothing untoward must happen to Metuh, adding that the APC’s desperation to decimate and silence the opposition has dragged the Buhari-led government in the mud of lawlessness.

The governor said; “In saner climes, you don’t arrest people for alleged fraud and start to look for evidence to prosecute them. Rather, before you arrest anyone for fraud, anti-corruption agencies

must have established a prima facie case and arresting the suspect will only be to enable for his or her arraignment in court.

“However, what we are witnessing in Nigeria today is a situation whereby the EFCC will arrest PDP leaders, humiliate them by subjecting them to media trial, detain them for weeks in the process of trying to force them to make statements during which the commission will be looking for evidence.

“For instance, in the case of Metuh, we are being told that the EFCC is insisting that he must write statements and one begins to wonder if it has now become mandatory for an accused to write statements in law enforcement agent’s custody. Shouldn’t the EFCC have simply charged Metuh to court based on its own evidence? Or is Metuh’s statement the evidence the EFCC requires to prosecute him?

“The international community, especially the United Nations (UN), African Union (AU), European Union (EU) and others are put on notice on this condemnable act of arresting and detaining opposition leaders by agents of the Buhari-led government before fishing for evidence.”

While challenging the President Buhari to extend his anti-corruption crusade to those who sponsored his election, Governor Fayose said; any anti-corruption effort that targets only members of the opposition and those with axe to grind with the government of the day can never succeed.

“If President Buhari did not wait for any petition to move against PDP chieftains, asking people to come forward with allegations of corruption against APC chieftains, especially those who sponsored President Buhari’s election is clearly hypocritical.

“Most importantly, that the EFCC Acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu even said the commission do not have any petition against APC chieftains when indeed there are loads of petitions against ministers serving in Buhari’s government and other notable APC chieftains goes to show the hypocrisy of the fight against corruption.

“It is even more hypocritical and anti-democratic for the President to have turned himself to the accuser, prosecutor and judge, carrying on as if those he accused of corruption have already been convicted,” the governor said.

Photo: Youths of Ogogoro community in Rivers state bury PDP flag

Youths of Ogogoro community of Obio-Akpor local government area of Rivers defected from PDP to APC yesterday January 7th and decided to bury PDP's flag to signify the death of the party in their community.

Court grants former PDP Chairman Haliru Bello & son N600m bail

The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted a N600 million bail to the former National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Haliru Bello and his son, Abba. The two are facing a 4-count criminal charge‎ bordering on alleged N300 million fraud‎.

Delivering judgement on their bail application, the presiding judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed ordered the duo to pay N300million each as well as produce two sureties each, in like sum.

One of the persons to stand surety for the former PDP chairman must be a Director under the employment of the federal government or any of its agencies while the the son was asked to produce someone not below grade level 12 to stand surety for him.

Justice Mohammed ordered that the second surety must be an owner of landed property in Abuja the value of which must not be below N300m, adding that the title deed of such property must be verified and surrendered to the court registrar throughout the duration of the trial.

The accused persons were also asked to surrender their international passports to the court. Pending the perfection of the bail terms, the court ordered that Abba should be remanded in prison custody, saying the ex-PDP boss should remain in hospital but placed under police watch. Hearing on the fraud charges begins on February 16.

PDP has accused operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of plotting to poison its National Publicity Secretary Olisa Metuh who was arrested yesterday January 5th.

“The PDP insists that for whatever reason Chief Metuh was arrested, his rights as a citizen under the law must not be trampled upon. We therefore demand (for) his immediate release and that due process of investigation and prosecution concerning him should be strictly adhered to. We state this because we have been made aware of top directives to break Chief Metuh and if possible poison him during his detention by the EFCC,” they said in a statement

EFCC Finally Picks Up PDP Spokesman, Olisa Metuh For Questioning

The National Publicity Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, is currently cooling his heels at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, where is assisting investigators with answers on some funds said to have been traced to his firm.

The operatives of the EFCC reportedly stormed the Abuja home of Mr. Metuh on Tuesday morning and invited him to follow them to their headquarters.

The Special Assistant to the PDP spokesman, Richard Ihediwa, in a statement said upon enquiry on reasons for the invitation, the anti-graft agency’s officials said they needed Mr. Metuh to come with them to clear some issues with the commission.

“They also said he was not being arrested but friendly invited. The operatives, four in number, came in a white unmarked Toyota Hiace bus,” Mr. Ihediwa said.

Ihediwa pointed out that at the time of issuing the statement, his principal was still being kept at the commission’s headquarters and his lawyers were making frantic efforts to reach him.

“While details of why Chief Metuh was invited is yet to be made public by the commission, it could be recalled that several times, Chief Metuh, as the mouthpiece of the opposition party, had alerted in various press conferences and statements that he has been under threat and that the ruling party and the government have been very uncomfortable with his stance.

“The latest being the outburst and threats by the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun in reaction to Chief Metuh’s criticisms of President Buhari’s widely criticized response on government’s disobedience of court orders, during last Wednesday’s Presidential Media chat.

“The Office of the National Publicity Secretary will keep the public updated on any development on the issue”, the statement said.

The Head, Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, could not be reached at this time for comments.

EFCC files charges against former PDP Chairman and his son over N600m diversion

Former  National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Minister of defense, Dr. Haliru Mohammed Bello, and his son,Abbah Mohammed,  have both been formally charged by the  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for collecting N600 million from the former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.
According to reports, father and son are likely to be docked on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.

 Mohammed Bello's son,  Abbah Mohammed, allegedly received N600m from the Office of the NSA (ONSA) in the name of Bam Properties, however, the reason for the transfer of the money to the company was not disclosed.

Vanguard

Buhari’s budget a big fraud – PDP

Read the PDP press statement below:
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) describes the N6.8 trillion 2016 federal budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday as a big fraud and executive conspiracy tailored towards mortgaging the future of the nation. The party queried President Buhari’s decision to borrow N2 trillion, the biggest in the history of the nation as the height of recklessness and deceit from a government that trends on propaganda.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh on Tuesday berated the Federal Government for trying to use their bogus welfare programme and phantom capital projects as cover and conduit to syphon the funds to satisfy partisan interests, particularly to settle huge campaign debts.
“It is obvious that this budget is an extension of the campaign promises of the APC government, presented as a manifesto filled with bogus promises which implementation will be inconclusive, thereby allowing the APC to once again deny their promises.
“There has never been any known economy in the world where government deliberately mortgage the future of its nation by borrowing excessively to finance partisan interests while hiding under bogus welfare programmes. This is moreso important as the APC in reeling out their bogus campaign promises never informed Nigerians that they would mortgage their future through excessive borrowing.
“We have it on good authority that this is the first in the series of APC borrowings which would leave the future generation of Nigerians under the burden of huge debts after four years”
The PDP said the budget clearly shows that after seven months in power, President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) are yet to differentiate between governance and campaign propaganda.
“By all standards, the 2016 budget, the first major economic policy outing of this government, is completely unrealistic and duplicitously embellished with impractical predications, a development that confirms fears by economy watchers and investors that this administration is obviously ill-equipped for governance.
“We are indeed shocked that President Buhari and his minister of information have come up with two different reasons for the current fuel crisis in the country. While we appreciate the President’s apology, we think it is high time he called this minister to order as his excessive propaganda and blame game are ridiculing this administration and the image of the nation.
“Furthermore, it is instructive to note the official endorsement of Mr. President to the devaluation of the naira as against his campaign promise of firming up the value of our currency even to the much vaunted one naira to one dollar.
‘Does it mean that Mr. President lied his way to power, or that he did not understand the complexities of governance when he was making his false promises to Nigerians?
“In future, there is need to regulate campaign promises so that we will not end up with a government that promises to climb Mount Everest with bare hands and end up mortgaging our future with orchestrated borrowings.
“Finally, we want to request Mr. President to once again to involve experienced and well-tested hands in the management of the economy and budgeting processes. This economy is not for Mr. President, neither is it for the APC. The progress of the economy is for all Nigerians and as such, due care should taken to save ourselves from unrealistic and deceptive programmes.
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh.
National Publicity Secretary.

Arms deal scandal: Return your N260m share - Oshiomhole tells Anenih

Edo state Governor Adams Oshiomhole has urged the former Chairman of PDP Board of Trustees and former Chairman of the Nigeria Ports Authority, Tony Anenih, to return the N260m allegedly given to him by the former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, from the $2.1 billion arms deal. Oshiomole said this at an APC rally in Benin City over the weekend

“We have seen even the godfather’s name being mentioned. Even at old age, he collected N260m, and I want the godfather to deny or to confirm it. If he wants to refund the money, I will collect it from him and I will go to Abuja without deducting anything from it, and I will hand it over to President Muhammadu Buhari.
You can see this is not yet an outcome of any investigation. I am sure by the time the NPA book is fully opened, more revelations will come out. By the time they open NIMASA, you will understand how these people helped themselves and their families, and deprived even the activists who helped to make them relevant. When it was time for help, they dealt quietly, when it was time to mobilize they used everybody. And I think if this is what President Buhari has done for Nigeria, helping us to understand how old people were eating the grasscutter which the younger boys had gone to the bush to bring home. Even without teeth, in their 90s, they never stop stealing. So you can see why new changes are necessary. Not just to build roads but to change the political system that doesn’t allow the young to grow. We respect elders, but the elders must not prevent the younger ones from growing.”he said