The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) says the advice of the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the funding of Nigeria’s annual budget through external borrowing is belated.
It also called on anti-graft agencies to identify, recover stolen revenues, arrest and prosecute all heads of agencies and ministries involved in the alleged unremitted internally generated revenue (IGR) in the country.
The CNPP said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu, while reacting to the advice by Senator Ahmad Lawan to President Muhammadu Buhari to reduce the funding of Nigeria’s annual budget through external borrowing and his denial of bribery allegation relating to the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
It said Senator Lawan statements vindicated CNPP’s long standing position that Buhari administration is full of incompetent persons.
It said: “For the top principal officer of the National Assembly to suddenly realise that the Buhari administration is borrowing too much money after the same lawmakers consistently approved external borrowing, including permitting clauses that signed out Nigeria’s sovereignty, is belated and a clear sign of the level of incompetence and lack of foresight in and around the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
“The President of the Senate progressively held the view that any bill or request by President Buhari will be passed by the Senate.
“It is a shame that Nigeria has the current principal officers of the National Assembly, the worst anti-people legislative leaders since the advent of the current democratic experiment.
“The confirmation by the President of the Senate that several agencies of the federal government are not remitting their internally generated revenues to the national treasury depicts the unprecedented level of hypocrisy in the fight against corruption by the Buhari administration.”
CNPP called on all relevant anti-graft agencies to rise up to their duties to not only prevent the looting of the nation’s treasury but to also swing into action immediately to identify, recover stolen revenues, arrest and prosecute all heads of agencies and ministries involved in the alleged unremitted internally generated revenues to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
On the allegation that Senator Lawan got $2 million (about N823 million) while the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, was paid $1.5 million (about N617 million) as bribes to facilitate the percentage for oil-producing communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which Lawan denied, the CNPP called on all anti-corruption agencies to investigate the bribery allegation and bring all those involved to book.
“The alleged source of the funds; the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva; each senator who was said to have received $20,000 (about N8.2 million) and members of the House of Representatives who allegedly got $5,000 (about N2 million) each, should be publicly investigated to determine what actually transpired beyond mere denial,” the CNPP stated.
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