The All Progressives Congress (APC) said on Tuesday evening the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was scared of the ongoing forensic audit of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The opposition party had launched a relentless campaign against the current administration’s anti-graft campaign.
It accused the Federal Government of silence in the face of ongoing corruption in several government agencies.
The PDP asked President Muhammadu Buhari to suspend the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, over his alleged involvement in funds misappropriation in the commission.
The party also alleged that the NDDC acting Managing Director, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, collapsed before a House of Representatives investigative panel due to the “weight of corruption” in the commission.
However, a statement titled: “PDP Dead-Scared of NDDC 19-Year Forensic Audit, Legislative Inquest – APC …No Sacred Cows in Corruption Fight,” and signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, in Abuja, the ruling party said it refused to trade words with PDP on how its successive administrations and their cronies “institutionalised a culture of contract fraud and other corrupt practices” which had robbed the Niger Delta of badly-needed development.
According to the APC, the government’s fight against corruption is total, unsparing and there are no sacred cows.
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The statement read: “Nigerians can now understand that the PDP is not interested in the current moves by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to reposition the NDDC but the PDP is dead-scared of the outcome of 2001 to 2019 forensic audit and legislative inquests of the NDDC operations.
“The PDP is doing everything to sabotage and frustrate the audits.
“We must support the forensic audit of the 19 years of the NDDC, which includes the first four years of the President Buhari administration as well as well-meaning legislative inquests for the benefit of the Niger Delta region.
“As a party, we totally align and support the resolve of President Muhammadu Buhari to audit and reposition the NDDC. As with all institutions of government, we must continue to entrench transparency and accountability.
“The commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration remains the rapid and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region.
“Hence, the audit must be seen as a decisive move to clear any stumbling block undermining the development of the Niger Delta region.
“Has the President Buhari administration demonstrated its zero-tolerance for corruption? An emphatic yes.”
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