The All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked former President Olusegun Obasanjo to account for the $16 billion he purportedly spent on the power sector without commensurate electricity supply during his eight years administration.
The party called on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to also account for the privatisation exercise under his watch which allegedly saw national assets sold off to friends and cronies with no benefit to the country.
The ruling party also demanded that the successive Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administrations should account for the trillions allegedly stolen from the national coffers in the guise of a fraudulent fuel subsidy regime.
Yekini Nabena, APC deputy national publicity secretary, made these demands in a statement on Sunday in reaction to Obasanjo, Atiku and PDP’s criticisms of the recent fuel price and electricity tariffs hikes as well as other policies by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC government.
Nabena said it is baffling that the same political actors that midwifed and institutionalised the national rot, corruption, impunity and eroding of Nigeria’s value systems are the same characters posing as voices on the way forward in its national life.
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“While it is well within the rights of these political actors to write skewed letters, spew empty, hypocritical, tongue-in-cheek and two-faced economic magic models in line with their Dubai meeting strategies, this administration is walking the talk with verifiable projects and people-centred interventions that is uplifting Nigerians,” the APC spokesman said.
“These political actors probably only listen to their own voices because Nigerians have long stopped taking them seriously as they simply lack the antecedents and moral credentials to guide Nigeria and Nigerians to the path of prosperity and progress.
“Instead of the do-or-die lingo Obasanjo and the PDP introduced to our electioneering, votes are beginning to count as our elections improve steadily. Their abandoned projects which constituted drainpipes on national resources are being completed by this administration,” he said.
Further pointing to things he said the APC administration has done differently, Nabena said “the brazen culture of impunity and corruption which they [PDP] institutionalised is being replaced by strong and accountable systems”.
“The culture of roundtripping and the rested subsidy regime in the petroleum sector has been replaced by a deregulated and accountable petroleum pricing template. Instead of plotting how to sell of national assets, particularly the NNPC to friends, this administration is reforming public sector operations to ensure optimised service delivery,” he said.
The APC said Nigerians are gradually eating what they grow and that the national emergency health response has earned global accolades and recognition as displayed by the government’s COVID-19 response.
“Our defence capacity to respond and contain emerging security challenges is now tested and proven. How did Nigeria achieve this? A strong, people-centred and focussed leadership which the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration provides,” he said.
“Genuine patriots, reputable groups and organizations who are making honest contributions on the deregulation of electricity and petrol prices already see the decision as inevitable and the way to go.
“As it stands, Nigeria will save as much as N1 trillion ($2.6 billion) following the deregulation of the petroleum sector, the Petroleum Minister of State, Timipre Sylva, has stated.
“Nigerians trust that the freed up cash will be accounted for and be judiciously invested to develop other critical areas such as infrastructure, health care, education, among others,” he said.
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