HOME » NEWS » FG releases treasury looters list; it is laughable, misleading – PDP FG releases treasury looters list; it is laughable, misleading – PDP

…Apology decoy to capture power—
Presidency
…PDP offloaded looters to APC—Fayose
By Emmanuel Aziken, Johnbosco
Agbakwuru,By Dirisu Yakubu& Prince
Okafor
The Minister of Information and Culture,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Friday released
the list of those, he said allegedly looted
the economy during the stewardship of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Lai Mohammed
He also mentioned the names of five
people and the amount allegedly siphoned
by them from the office of the National
Security Adviser, NSA.
However, those listed still have pending
alleged corruption cases in the courts.
According to Mohammed: ”The PDP has
challenged us to name the looters under
their watch. They said they did not loot the
treasury.
“I am sure they know that the treasury was
looted dry under their watch. Yet they
decided to grandstand. This shows the
hollowness of their apology to Nigerians.
Let us just give them a teaser.
“This list is just a tip of the iceberg, and
the PDP is aware of this. We did not make
these cases up. Many of these cases are in
court and the records are available. Some
of the people on this list are seeking a plea
bargain, and that is a fact.
“We insist that Nigeria was looted blind
under the watch of the PDP, and the
starting point in tendering an apology is for
them to return the loot.
“It is like a robber admitting to stealing
your car and apologising, but saying he
will keep the car. It doesn’t work that way.
“The PDP is a hypocrite. And that reminds
me of what English writer William Hazlitt
said: ‘’The only vice that cannot be forgiven
is hypocrisy. The repentance of a hypocrite
is itself hypocrisy.
“We will not stop talking about the massive
looting by the PDP. They brought Nigeria to
this sorry state. We are now looking for
loans to build infrastructure, and they
asked us not to talk about it. We will talk
about it.”
Apology decoy to capture power
Meanwhile, the Presidency, yesterday, said
the apology of the PDP was not genuine.
Consequently, it urged Nigerians to be
cautious of it.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant
to the President on Media and Publicity,
Malam Garba Shehu said the PDP should
return its alleged loot.
The statement reads: “The PDP is desperate
to recapture power because it no longer
has unhindered access to national
resources for private uses and its apology
should be seen in this context.
“The PDP has not even acknowledged the
fact that it plundered the national
economy. And for a party that dismissed
the anti-corruption war as a political witch
hunt, it is impossible to believe that its
public apology comes from the bottom of
the heart.
“Even desperate thieves apologise because
they are caught and not because they are
incapable of repeating the crime if they had
another opportunity.
“We believe that the PDP should not only
apologize for the imposition of candidates,
and the culture of impunity, but must also
come clean and acknowledge that they
participated in large-scale corruption and
massive diversions of public funds to
private pockets while poverty was ravaging
the ordinary Nigerians.
“We challenge individual PDP leaders to
publicly and voluntarily tell Nigerians how
much they stole.
“Apology borne by desperation to recapture
power without a desire to admit how much
they stole and the reluctance to return the
loot is morally hollow. This goes beyond
rebranding. Nigerians are not interested in
brands. They want their money back.
“For such apology to gain acceptance, the
offenders must first show remorse and
return that which was unlawfully taken or
restore the damage caused the nation and
commit to never doing the wrong they did
again. The PDP has done none of these for
them to be taken seriously by anyone.”
List is laughable, misleading—PDP
Reacting to the statement the PDP
dismissed the list  as laughable.
The party in a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan
challenged the government to come up with
names of its member convicted for looting.
The statement reads: “The federal
government has manifested its frenzy by
going after matters that are in court and in
which none of the persons have been
convicted, thus betraying their wickedness
and desperation to mislead the public, the
court and divert attention from the heavy
looting involving their members.
“We are not in doubt that the individuals
he has mentioned will take their legitimate
stride and pursue appropriate action in the
court. However, attacks on individuals who
are members of our party do not in anyway
change the fact that the PDP, as a political
platform, is not a party of corruption.
“It is unfortunate that the APC and its
government under whose watch horrendous
sleazes are happening on daily basis can
spend three years searching for flimsy
allegations to discredit our party.”
PDP offloaded looters to APC—Fayose
Similarly, Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo
Fayose lampooned Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo, over what he described as the
continuous attack on the PDP over alleged
corrupt practices.
Fayose said: “Today, the most difficult
question any student can be asked to
answer in an examination is to list five
landmark achievements of the government
in which Prof Osinbajo is the Vice
President.
“Today, even prosecution witnesses are
suddenly disappearing in corruption cases
involving those who have defected to the
APC and properties once seized are being
returned to them. Obviously, PDP has
purged itself of corrupt elements in its fold
and offloaded them to the APC.”
FG dares PDP,
releases list of
alleged treasury
looters
March 30, 2018
Return looted
funds after
apology, Lai
Mohammed tells
PDP
March 27, 2018
Be ready to
proof your case
in court,
Secondus
challenges Lai
Mohammed
March 30, 2018