PDP raises alarm over whereabouts of $1bn ECA withdrawal 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded an explanation from President Muhammadu Buhari over the whereabouts of $1 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) by the present administration in 2017 for security purposes.

The party said it raised the alarm after the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Mongunu (retired) was reported to have denied the whereabouts of the money.

A statement on Sunday by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, accused the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) of diverting the funds meant for tackling insecurity in the last general election.

This, it added, explains the worsening insecurity in most parts of the country.

“This confession by the NSA, who coordinates the security architecture of the nation, directly places a huge burden on President Buhari’s doorsteps over reported stealing and diversion of funds meant for security, while insurgency, banditry, killings and kidnapping fester in the land under his watch.

“The revelation by NSA further vindicates the PDP on our initial alarm that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration is overtly corrupt, deceptive and unreliable in the handling the affairs of our nation.

“It further validates the stance of the PDP that agents of the Buhari Presidency and the APC were hiding under the guise of security to siphon the $1bn from the ECA. This, peharps, informed the desperation by the cabal to draw from the Account without recourse to statutory due process of appropriation by the National Assembly.

“From Gen. Mongunu’s confession, Nigerians can further see why our nation is daily confronted with disturbing videos and reports of our fighting troops protesting their neglect and inadequate equipping, leading to their vulnerability in the fronts.

“Now that the National Security Adviser has declared that he is not aware of the whereabouts of funds, the burden, straightaway, lies squarely on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately address the nation on how the money was handled,” the statement reads.

The party therefore called on President Buhari to allow for a system-wide investigation into the whereabouts of the money and other funds meant for security purposes under his watch.