BEVERLY HILLS, May 10, (THEWILL) – The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has demanded the immediate sack, investigation and prosecution of the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, as well as the suspended Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, over the reported looting of over N165 billion in the agency.
The party, in a release on Monday signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, also asked the Transport Minister to come clean on his reported connection in the alleged involvement of his wife, Mrs. Edith Amaechi, over the N48 billion contract scam in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The party said the foul stench of corruption oozing out of the NPA, NDDC and other agencies in the last six years had shown that the MDAs had become cash cows and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) for greedy leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their cronies under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch.
PDP said: “Our party asserts that the fact that it took the Minister a clear six years (2016 to 2021) to query the NPA Managing Director over the alleged looting of N165 billion unremitted operating surplus of the agency, which is under his purview, is suspect and raises public belief that he (Amaechi) only acted apparently to shield himself after indicting audit documents had already been exposed.
“This is in addition to reports from the office of the Auditor General, which also unearthed the looting of unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and £252,682.14 under the suspended NPA Managing Director and Amaechi’s ministerial supervision.
“The audit report also exposed another N15.18 billion allegedly siphoned through shady Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects by the NPA, an agency under Amaechi’s ministerial purview.”
PDP said it rejected any attempt at a cover-up in the recourse to an Administrative Panel of Enquiry recommended by the Transport Minister to investigate the NPA fraud, in which he also has some questions to answer.
The party said: “Our party insists that both the Minister and the indicted NPA Managing Director should be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and possible prosecution.
“Moreover, Nigerians are appalled that fingers of fraud allegation are also pointing to the wife of the Transport Minister in a N48 billion contract scam under the sacked NDDC’s Managing Director, Nelson Bambraifa, who was reportedly nominated into that position by the Minister of transportation, Amaechi, but fired on allegations of corruption.”
The PDP describes as unpardonable that the humongous sum in the NDDC contract scam involving the wife of the Transport Minister was allegedly siphoned under the guise of offering training to unsuspecting youths in the area.
It said it is indeed disgraceful that under the APC that promised to fight and end corruption in our country, the public space was awash with revelations of sharing of government revenues among concubines, wives, girlfriends and family members of top APC leaders.
“This can only happen under the watch of an absentee President, who also condones corruption,” the statement said.
About the Author
AYO ESAN, has been actively reporting and analyzing political events for different newspapers for over 18 years. He has also successfully covered national and state elections in Nigeria since the inception of this democracy in 1999.
