FG releases names of alleged treasury looters in PDP; Its laughable, desperate & mis-leading-PDP

Federal Government has released a list of some of those who have allegedly looted the nation’s treasury.

The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, released the list during a press conference in Lagos on Friday.

Mohammed said the individuals include officials in the past government.

The names in the list revealed by the Federal Government include PDP chieftains who are currently being tried for corruption and financial crimes.

“The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, 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,” Mohammed said as he released the names.

The list and the allegations against them by the Federal Government…

PDP Chairman Uche Secondus

Allegation: On the 19th of Feb 2015, he took N200 million only from the office of the NSA.

Former PDP Financial Secretary

Allegation: On the 24th of Oct 2014, he took N600 million only from the office of former NSA.

Former National Publicity Secretary Olisah Metuh

On trial for allegedly collecting N1.4bn from the office of former NSA.

Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, Chairman of DAAR Communications

On trial for allegedly taking N2.1 billion from the office of the former NSA.

Former SSA to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dudafa Waripamo-Owei

On trial, over N830 million allegedly kept in accounts of four different companies.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan’s Cousin Robert Azibaola

On Thursday, a Federal High Court ruled that he has a case to answer for allegedly collecting $40 million from the office of former NSA.

The decision by the APC-led government to reveal the names of the alleged looters and the funds allegedly stolen is in response to the opposition party, PDP’s, challenge to the government to name those alleged to have looted the country and destroyed the economy.

Mohammed said this list is just a tip of the iceberg, and the APC did not make these cases up as some of them currently have cases in court.

“They are in court and the records are available. Some of the people on this list are seeking to plea bargain, and that is a fact.

“We insist that Nigeria was looted blind under the watch of the PDP and that the starting point in tendering an apology is for them to return the loot,” he said.

Mohammed said further that the APC will not stop talking about the alleged looting by the PDP.

“We will not stop talking about the massive looting by the PDP. They brought Nigeria to this sorry pass. We are now looking around for loans to build infrastructure, and they ask us not to talk about it. We will talk about it,” he said.

“It is like a robber admitting to stealing your car and apologizing, 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.

The Presidency on its part said the apology of the PDP was not genuine urging Nigerians to be cautious of it.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu said the PDP should return its alleged loot.

Shehu said, “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 apologize 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.”

Meanwhile in its reaction to the released list by the Federal Government, the PDP said the laughable and misleading.

Challenging the government to come up with names of its members convicted for looting, its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan said, “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 any way 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.”

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