The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has berated the President-elect, Bola Tinubu over his promise to fight corruption when he is sworn in as President, from May, 29, saying that he lacked the capacity to fight corruption.
The President-elect, had while in Port Harcourt, Rivers State pledged that his administration would put incentives and policies in place to make corruption unattractive for judges and other legal officials working in the judiciary.
But in a swift reaction, the PDP said sensible Nigerians are alarmed, scandalised and embarrassed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate’s claim.
Debo Ologunabga, national publicity secretary described the statement credited to Tinubu as “completely sacrilegious and an assault on the sensibility of Nigerians, having regards to his records of alleged corruption and having been described variously as an embodiment of corruption in his public life”.
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“It is in the public domain that as Governor of Lagos State, Senator Tinubu promoted and institutionalized corruption as an act of governance. It is on record that Senator Tinubu is alleged to be deeply involved in the infamous cases involving Alpha Beta Consulting Limited and Alpha Beta LLP, allegedly owned and controlled by him and through which over N100 billion belonging to Lagos State was reportedly stolen through shady tax collection deals,” Ologunagba said.
“ It is also public knowledge that there has been numerous allegations and evidence of corruption and complicity by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the declaration of Senator Tinubu as winner of the February 25, 2023 Presidential election. Today Nigerians and indeed the world believe that that declaration was a product of corruption of the Process, Institutions and the Law by the APC and its Presidential candidate.”
He also described it as “ ludicrous, that an individual who has been widely alleged to be an enabler and beneficiary of corruption can attempt to put himself forward to Nigerians as a champion of anti-corruption. Of course, corruption cannot fight corruption.”
The party challenged Tinubu to start by publicly and personally addressing Nigerians on the numerous allegations of corruption, including the Alpha Beta cases and alleged improper acquisition and conversion of Lagos State Government landed properties worth billions of naira to himself, family, associates and cronies, if he really wants to fight corruption.
“Clearly, Senator Tinubu’s pontification or claims on corruption is a further attempt to corrupt, cultivate, patronize, lure and compromise the Judiciary ahead of the commencement of the hearing of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal on Monday, May 8, 2023 and nothing more,” Ologunagba said.
The PDP therefore called on the Judiciary to be wary of attempts by the APC and its Presidential Candidate to patronize them in the course of the discharge of their Constitutional duties as impartial arbiter, particularly in the pending Petition before the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.
