BY Chinedu Asadu
Laolu Akande, spokesman of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, says his principal is standing by the allegations of corruption he levelled against the government of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said this on Monday, while reacting to a report attributed to “Jonathan’s media office” on previous allegations.
Osinbajo had been accused of lying against the ex-president or his government by citing the looting of the nation’s treasury, while he was speaking recently at ‘The Platform’.
Osinbajo had said: “Grand corruption remains the most enduring threat to our economy. Three billion US dollars was stolen in what was called the strategic alliance contacts in 2013, three Nigerians were responsible, today three billion dollars is NI trillion and our budget is N7 trillion.”
In a statement issued on Monday, Akande said the looting under Jonathan has been a subject of criminal investigation and trials even in the UK.
He further listed “facts on grand corruption” perpetrated under Jonathan’s government, which he said were a tip of the iceberg.
According to him, the “facts” are “the release of the sum of $289m on February 25, 2015, illegal disbursement of N60 billion … most of which ended up in the hands of senior members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP – then ruling party), $3 billion stolen in the so-called NNPC strategic alliance contracts, N40 billion from CBN released for the PDP presidential primary, among others.
He also said the amount released from CBN in cash on a single day, “ie US$289 million ( N88.1 billion) is enough to fund 244,000 N-Power graduates for a year, or pay for 1.2 billion school meals or complete half of Lagos -Ibadan or half of Abuja -Kaduna -Kano roads.”
Below is the full statement from Akande:
We have read reports attributed to “a media office of former President Goodluck Jonathan”. It is clear from the foul language of the authors that the statement could not have come from the former President, but from the motley group of loud and rude characters whose brief seems to be to deny all and anything said against the former PDP government and to do so in the crassest possible language.
The alleged spokespersons of the former president say that facts long in the public domain, some even being used to prosecute several corruption cases are lies and that those of us in government restating these well known facts are liars.
They accused Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, of lying against the former President or his government citing their involvement in the stealing of three billion dollars, while speaking recently at The Platform event on the 1st of May.
Just for clarity, I quote the Vice President, “Grand corruption remains the most enduring threat to our economy. Three Billion US dollars was stolen in what was called the strategic alliance contacts in 2013, three Nigerians were responsible, today three billion dollars is one trillion Naira and our budget is 7trillion! ….” (www.yemiosinbajo.ng/ how-young-people-outside- politics-are-boldly-building- the-nigerian-nation-by-vp- osinbajo/)
Two issues emerge. First, no mention is made of the former President.
Second, the story is not only true, it has been in the public domain for almost three years and it is the subject of criminal investigation and trials both here and in the UK.
The spokespersons also say that the allegations of corruption against the PDP government are mere lies. For clarity, the facts are laid out as follows:
The amount released from CBN in cash on a single day, ie the US$289M ( N88.1Bn) is enough to fund 244,000 N-Power graduates for a year, or pay for 1.2 billion school meals or complete half of Lagos-Ibadan or half of Abuja-Kaduna -Kano roads.
The vice-president also made the point that in 2014 with oil prices as high as 120 dollars per barrel, the total capital released for power, works, housing, defence, transport, agriculture and defence were just N152Billion for the whole year.
By contrast, the Buhari administration committed N578Bn to the same ministries in 2016 with oil prices as low as US$28 per barrel as part of the strategy to end the recession. The government was able to do more with less by stopping grand corruption and impunity.
Recently, the minister coordinating the economy in that administration has written a revealing book : Fighting Corruption is Dangerous: The Story Behind the Headlines. Who knows, perhaps her stories too are all lies!
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