The Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday charged the National Assembly and security agencies to immediately probe into corrupt allegations by the wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Buhari, against the Social Investment Programme (SIP).
In a statement by its National public Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party said: “The revelation by the First Lady, Aisha Buhari, that there is humongous fraud in the N500 billion Social Investment Programme and the N16 billion Mosquito Net Project of the (Muhammadu) Buhari administration has further vindicated our stance that this government is deceitful and a pretentious citadel of corruption.
“More disheartening is the fact that the said funds were meant for the welfare of the poor, whom Mr. President had always claimed to represent in government.
“Unfortunately, these poor Nigerians have been waiting endlessly for the failed social investments promised by President Buhari only to have their hopes dashed as revelations by Mrs. Buhari had shown that the money provided for the programme had been stolen.”
The PDP stated that “now that the truth had been revealed by no lesser Nigerian than Mr. President’s wife, the National Assembly and all anti-corruption agencies should immediately commence forensic investigation into how these funds were dispensed and utilised.
“Nigerians can now see how the same administration presided over by ‘Mr. Integrity’ has been using the names of innocent poor Nigerians to loot our national treasury and fritter away billions of naira to finance their wasteful lifestyles while Nigerians wallow in abject poverty.
“It is indeed appalling that the Buhari administration would be sitting on such colossal corruption and continues to thrive in evil concealment while diverting public attention from their rot by hounding innocent opposition figures on trump-up corruption charges.”
However, the state chapter of the party has cautioned the Federal Governor against releasing fresh N50 billion as bailout to Governor Yahaya Bello in Kogi.
It stated that “news reaching the party shows that Governor Yahaya Bello and the Commissioner for Finance have intensified efforts in lobbying the All Progressives Congress (APC)-controlled Federal Government to secure a further N50 billion bailout.”
The party registered its opposition in a statement issued by the state publicity secretary, Bode Ogunmola, in Lokoja.
Also yesterday, the PDP blamed what it called escalated despondency, depression and misery in the polity on poor governance.
The party urged Nigerians to support one another in love during these trying times to check the “rising social degeneration in our nation, particularly acts of suicide.”
Ologbondiyan, in another statement, described as a “national tragedy the rising spate of suicides, slavery mission abroad, divorces, child abandonment and other social degeneration.”
Source: The Guardian Nigeria
