N1.3trn Looted Funds: Jonathan’s Camp Lists Corruption Cases Under Buhari

N1.3trn looted funds: Jonathan’s camp lambasts Magu, lists corruption cases under Buhari

The
camp of former President Goodluck Jonathan has reacted to comment by
Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim
Magu, that N1.3trillion was stolen under the administration.

Former
aide to Jonathan, Reno Omokri, in a statement advised Buhari government
to face the United States which recently released a damning report on
corruption fight in the country.

It said Magu sought to drag
Jonathan into the mix when he was expected to have used the forum he
spoke to address the issues of impunity raised in the U.S. State
Department report.

It reads: “The claim of a stolen N1.3 trillion
public fund which Magu reiterated on Monday is not new, for the
discerning members of the public, the claim by Magu is rehash of false
allegations that started its ill-fated journey in 2016.

“In
January 2016, Muhammadu Buhari’s prophetically named Minister of
Information, Alhaji Lai (Lie) Mohammed, claimed at a world press
conference in Abuja, to mark the beginning of the administration’s war
against corruption, that 55 well-placed Nigerians stole a whopping N1.34
trillion between 2006 and 2013, a period covering the Presidencies of
Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan.

“Nine months later, specifically
in October 2016, the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee
Against Corruption (PACAC), Professor Itse Sagay repeated the allegation
with only a slight alteration, by alleging that about N1.4 trillion was
stolen by top government officials and businessmen under the last three
administrations.

“It will be recalled that in July 2015, Adams
Oshiomhole, the current chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC),
had alleged that a former government minister in Nigeria stole $6bn
(about N2.1 trillion). Oshiomhole said “US officials informed President
Muhammadu Buhari of the alleged theft during his visit to Washington the
previous month.”

“However, the U.S. State Department denied the
story, asking Oshiomhole, to name the official and not drag United
States into Nigeria domestic politics. The truth is that Ibrahim Magu
lied and this is not the first, or second time he has lied to the
public.

“It would be recalled that Mr. Magu has boasted on many
occasions that the EFCC under him had recovered about N739 billion
within two years, adding that over N500 billion was recovered in 2017
alone.

“However, Kemi Adeosun, the then minister of finance in
the same Government at that time, decided to put a lie to Mr. Magu’s
claims, by revealing in March 2018 that contrary to all the figures
provided over time by the EFCC’s acting chairman, Ibrahim Magu, only N91
billion of such claims could be accounted for by the Government.

“So,
instead of relying on wild and unsubstantiated allegations, I would
advise Mr. Magu to focus on some facts, like the following:

“According
to Transparency International, Nigeria is more corrupt today than at
anytime during the five-year period of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s time in
office.

“Whereas under Jonathan and the PDP, Nigeria made her
best ever improvement on Transparency International’s Corruption
Perception Index, moving 8 places forward from 144 to 136 in 2014, but
under President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, Nigeria has
made her worst ever retrogression, moving backwards 12 places from 136
to 148. This is a fact.

“It is also a fact that under the
Muhammadu Buhari administration arranged the recall, reinstatement and
double promotion of Abdulwasiu Maina, the biggest ever thief in
Nigeria’s civil service history and even gave him armed guards.

“It
is also a fact under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the Group
Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation awarded
$25 billion worth of contracts without due process. To put this in
perspective, that money can pay 1 million Nigerians the proposed new
minimum wage of ₦30,000 for 4 years. This is a fact.

“Moreover,
it is a fact that renowned entertainer, Mr. Charles Oputa, AKA Charly
Boy, recently revealed that the spokesman for the Muhammadu Buhari
re-election campaign, Mr. Festus Keyamo, paid him a nine-figure sum (at
least one hundred million Naira), to attack the candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party in the February 2019 Presidential elections.

“The question Mr. Magu should answer is where did Festus Keyamo get so much money that he carelessly throws around?

“Finally,
Nigerians saw clear evidence via drone imagery that bullion vans carted
cash to the home of the National Leader of the All Progressive
Congress, Senator Bola Tinubu, 48 hours to the Presidential election.

“Mr.
Tinubu even boasted on live television that the bullion vans carried
money and that it is nobody’s business. This is even as the Money
Laundering Act of 2011 makes it illegal for any individual to make cash
payments exceeding Five Million Naira. And provides that every cash
transaction over ₦5,000,000 must be done via a financial institution. ‪

“These are the types of characters surrounding President Buhari. Characters that you will not trust with even your dog.

“One
had expected that all these demonstrations from the US State Department
among with the facts listed above would prompt Mr. Magu to change his
politically-influenced blame game approach and adopt a more professional
strategy. Sadly, that was not to be.

“To have simply repackaged
the fable of the missing N1.3 billion at this time, shows that the EFCC
boss probably thinks that Nigerians are a bunch of people with no
retentive memory.

“Magu should realize that his credibility and
that of the agency he leads should derive from the attention he gives to
objectivity, professionalism and hard evidence. It is rather
unfortunate that Magu chose to enmeshed state institution such as the
EFCC into partisan politics, thereby prioritizing propaganda, deceit,
half-truth and hearsay as the organization’s strategy of governance.”

Source:- Dailypostng