PDP on release of $1bn: Buhari sidestepped n’assembly for a selfish reason

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says the presidency plans to divert the $1 billion approved for the procurement of security equipment to fight Boko Haram insurgents.

On Wednesday, Mansur Dan-Ali, minister of defence, announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the release of the money.

The money had been earlier approved by all the state governors for withdrawal from the excess crude account, with the exception of Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state.

Both chambers of the national assembly had also questioned the legality of the withdrawal without their approval.

In a statement on Thursday, the PDP urged the national assembly to “impose appropriate legislative instruments” against Buhari if any part of the constitution has been breached by Buhari’s unilateral decision.

The statement issued by Kola Ologbondiyan, the party spokesman, said the presidency plans to use the money to finance Buhari‘s “interests” in the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s national convention as well as 2019 elections campaign.

The party accused the presidency of “wilfully sidestepping the national assembly so as to avoid legislative scrutiny and accountability to pave way for the diverting of the fund for selfish partisan purposes.”

“It is a notorious fact that the presidency and the APC have been plotting to loot this $1 billion from our heavily depleted Excess Crude Account (ECA) since last year, using the guise of fight against insurgency,” the party said.

“This is the same Buhari administration that has been boasting of having technically defeated the insurgents. This is also an administration that is not known to have exhausted subsisting budgetary allocations for defence.

“Democracy thrives on constitutional processes of separation of powers, due diligence and transparency and not on totalitarian tendencies.

“PDP believes the president, as a leader, reasonably ought to have known that he is in no way above the law.”