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:
As the Vice President said, $3B
was stolen in the so- called NNPC Strategic Alliance Contracts. The three persons involved are Jide Omokore, Kola Aluko and the former
Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison- Maduekwe. The companies of both Jide Omokore and Kola
Aluko lifted Nigerian crude oil and kept
the proceeds. The total sums converted
is in excess of three billion dollars including royalties, taxes and fees
unpaid for the asset from which the crude was taken. The case is the subject of a trial in
Nigeria, and criminal investigation in the US and UK, and the assets of all
three individuals have been forfeited in Nigeria, the US and the UK.
The criminal diversion and theft
of sums in excess of $2.5 billion meant for purchase of arms to prosecute the
war against Boko Haram: the first phase of the investigations revealed several
sordid details, many of the assets of culprits have been seized from them and
they are facing trial.
The release of the sum of $289m
in cash on February 25, 2015: Documents including cash vouchers indicate
that the the sum of $289,202,382 was
taken from the Joint Venture (JV) Cash
Call Account No. 000-0000-11658-366 of the NNPC/NAPIMS with JP Morgan Chase
Bank, New York, USA.
N70 billion was released in parts
from the national treasury between January 8 and February 25, 2015.5.In another
illegal disbursement, 25th August 2014,
N60B in cash in tranches of N40billion and N20billion: The sum was not tied to any project or
procurement and was then shared between two security agencies under the
supervision of the then NSA. Most of these sums ended up in the hands of senior
PDP members some of whom have returned parts of the loot. Some are standing trial
for these offenses. These facts are in the public domain.5. There was yet
another set of illegal fund withdrawals under one week between January 8 and
16, 2015, where the sum of N1.5 billion was released in three tranches of
N300m, N400m and N800m respectively. This money was released from the MEA
Research Library Account .6. Another document showed that N10 billion was
released to the Office of the National Security Adviser by the Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) on September 15, 2014. The money was released in tranches of
foreign exchange of $47 million, $5 million, 4 million Euros and 1.6 million
Euros. A letter from the Office of the NSA in November 2014 further showed that
the monies were released as ‘funds for special services’. This particular
release of N10B was sourced in November 2014 from a N40 billion CBN released
funds meant for Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR. Investigators showed that
this money was released for the PDP
Presidential Primaries.
7. Lamido Sanusi, then CBN
Governor, was sacked for speaking up about the over $20billion missing from oil
proceeds
8. These cases of grand
corruption and open looting of public resources pauperized Nigeria and left us
with little or no savings in the years when oil was selling at 100 to 114
dollars a barrel and we were producing 2.1 million barrels a day. When in 2015 oil prices went even as low as
between 28 and 35 dollars a barrel and oil production fell to less than one
million barrels a day we had no buffer, no savings, to tide us through.
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!
Hmmmmmmmm!
ReplyDeleteOsinbajo, will you stop running your mouth about someone who is no longer in office? Is this the song you will sing all the way to the end of your four-term? Can you find something else to convince Nigerians with why you want to remain in power? There are a great many puddles of human blood all over the country resulting from the ineptness of your administration
ReplyDeleteWhen will you people stop calling Jonathan name, your failure party is hiding under Buhari's as a cover up, APC Shame!!!
ReplyDelete