National Chairman of the National
Action Council (NAC), Dr. Olapade Agoro, on Sunday enjoined former presidents
Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari
to stop the blame-game, and come out with explanations on their roles in the
mismanagement of public funds since 1999 when democracy returned to Nigeria.
Agoro, while speaking with
journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on the occasion of this year’s
Democracy Day anniversary, lamented that “it was unfortunate that the 19 years
of democratic process have brought about poverty, suffering and sorrow to
Nigerians as a result of corruption and mismanagement of funds.”
The NAC presidential aspirant lamented
further that “the 19 years of democratic experience in the country have been
woefully messed up by corrupt politicians”, adding that “what Nigerians need
now are explanations on how some funds were mismanaged or embezzled”.
Agoro specifically asked
“Obasanjo, Jonathan and Buhari to come out and explain their roles on the $16
billion allegedly expended on the power project without any meaningful result,
instead of embarking on a blame-game”.
Speaking further, he remarked
that, “Apart from this, Nigerians also deserve to know more about how the $62
billion left behind in the country’s foreign exchange reserve in 2007 when
former President Obasanjo was leaving office got depleted to about $360 million
within one year, and the missing $20 billion crude oil money alleged by the
former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi”.
Agoro, while insisting that the
trio of Obasanjo, Jonathan and Buhari should come out and explain their roles
in the mismanagement of Nigeria’s treasury, revealed that in order to create a
platform for Buhari, Obasanjo and Jonathan to do this, he (Agoro) would on
August 16, 2018 organised a fora in Ibadan that would be tagged “Face the
Nation”, in which the trio and members of their economic teams will be invited
to explain their roles in the alleged mismanagement of funds.
He said, “The issue of the $16
billion power project is not a blame-game issue. Buhari was partially right,
claiming that Obasanjo spent $16 billion on the power project. The truth is
that Obasanjo committed $12 billion, while the Yar’Adua/Jonathan’s administration
committed $8 billion on the project.
“This is, therefore, calling on
Obasanjo to forget about asking anybody to go and read his book. Nigerians are
not interested in that.
“Nigerians deserve to know what is happening.
Nigerians are waiting for explanations on what happened to the money. It is,
therefore, not an ordinary political words being thrown about.”
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