Jonathan ‘did not want to share’ $5.6bn NLNG dividend, says PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is insisting that former president Goodluck Jonathan left “huge sums of money” in the nation’s treasury before handing over to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Reacting to the claim of the presidency that the bailout was not taken from the excess crude account (ECA), Olisa Metuh, spokesman of the PDP, said Buhari was misdirected on the actual state of the finances of the country.

Metuh insisted that the bailout was taken from the ECA, accusing the federal government of not saying the truth.

“Contrary to the claim of the presidency that $2.1 billion, being proceeds of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), component of the bailout for states was actually saved by the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration,” read a statement issued by Metuh late Wednesday.

“The NLNG dividend stood at $5.6 billion even before the handover date of May 29 and would have been shared but for the insistence of former President Goodluck Jonathan that it be left for the incoming administration to manage.”

Metuh taunted Buhari to appologise to Jonathan for not setting the records straight. He also urged the president not to allow some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) distract him from realising his targets.

“It is gratifying to note that gradually the evidence of monies left behind by the PDP-led administration is coming to public light despite effort by the new government to hide the facts,” the statement read.

“The public had been made aware that $2 billion was left in the ECA for which the accountant-general and the APC confirmed approvals for the withdrawal of $1.7 billion.

“Despite attempts by the APC-led administration to hide the truth, the issuance of the bailout with funds from the NLNG proceeds and the excess crude account has exposed the fact that the PDP administration actually left behind huge sums of money, contrary to the impression earlier given to Nigerians and the international community that the new administration met a virtually empty treasury.

“We know that surely, though slowly, a lot of other monies saved by the PDP and which are now under the control of the APC government will eventually be unveiled by this administration themselves and without any effort on our part whatsoever.

“President Buhari must have realised that he was earlier misdirected on the actual state of the nation’s finances and should, as a respected statesman, apologise to his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan, who also ensured that he handed over to him a peaceful and stable environment to operate.

“President Buhari, as a leader on whose shoulders lies the mandate of the Nigerian people and the burden of governance for the next four years, should strive to disentangle himself from the intrigues, propaganda, blackmail and machinations of some leaders in his party and focus on delivering on his campaign promises for which he was elected.”

PDP also urged APC, as a party in power, to rise above board and endeavour to be honest in its dealings, especially if it wants Nigerians to take it seriously.

It said a situation where a ruling party will resort to a dishonourable act of altering a statement where it earlier acknowledged the approval for the withdrawal from the ECA, just to hide the truth, leaves much to be desired.