The All Progressives Congress Campaign Organisation has said that some of the policies of the President Goodluck Jonathan-led Peoples Democratic Party Federal Government being implemented by its Ministries Departments and Agencies ahead of the 2015 general elections are aimed at protecting itself from the inevitability of a General Muhammadu Buhari win and his zero tolerance for corruption and stealing of state funds.
In a statement on Monday, Malam Garba Shehu, the APCCO’s Director of Media and Publicity, described the Federal Government’s commencement of an independent revenue e-collection scheme under the Treasury Single Account initiative as too little too late and only predicated on the anticipation of an inevitable win by General Buhari in the March 28 presidential elections.
“These are obviously last-minute attempts by the President Goodluck Jonathan government to plug loopholes in federal revenue collection by centralizing the process, a clear reaction to their expectation of General Muhammadu Buhari’s coming to power,” Malam Shehu said.
He described as suspicious the FG’s new directive that all revenue collections of MDAs, which used to be deposited in banks, should now be sent directly to the Consolidated Revenue Fund at the Central Bank of Nigeria through electronic payment channels.
“They didn’t do this all these years, and now with barely four weeks to go, they suddenly think this is essential,” Malam Shehu said.
He added: “It is even more suspicious when viewed along with the report of the inauguration of the Automated Aviation Revenue Project by the Ministry of Aviation.
“These people are clearly plugging the loopholes, obviously having stolen enough.
“The idea to plug loopholes is on its own desirable but it should worry any well-meaning Nigerian that it has taken this administration the better part of nearly six years for it to realise that the bane of this government is outright stealing, waste and mismanagement of resources.”
The statement recalled General Buhari’s declaration at a Lagos town hall meeting last month that corruption would drop a significant percentage immediately he was announced winner of the elections, even before he began to take formal measures to stem official graft.
“This is a clear manifestation of what the General said,” Malam Shehu said, adding: “They know they have only four weeks left in government and they have started covering their tracks.”
