September 2, 2021
Abuja: By, Segun OLATUNJI Published, September 2, 2021
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives
THE MINORITY CAUCUS IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES has raised eye brows against the approval to funnel out $418 million out of the national treasure under a hazy consent judgment in the absence of forensic audit, saying it smacks of an endorsement of corruption by President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The Minority Caucus cautions the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government against the reported approval by President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment of the $418 million (N240bn) suspicious debt despite wide spread national objection by stakeholders, including state governors, chairmen of local governments and anti-graft agencies.
It urges President Buhari to note that the consent judgement being relied upon for the payment is cloudy, opaque and raises apprehensions of huge swindle on the national treasure which requires immediate investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Rt. Hon. Ndudi Elumelu,
Minority Leader of the House of Representatives raises the caucus's objection in a press statement signed by him and made available to thedispatch newspaper in Abuja Thursday, saying the caucus calls on President Buhari to, in the national interest, immediately halt the payment processes until after the investigations.
The caucus insists that the objection raised by the Association of Local Governments in Nigeria (ALGON) and the Nigeria Governor’s Forum, (NGF), in calling for forensic audit into the claims by the creditors, must be taken into consideration.
"This is essentially because governance is a collective responsibility of all tiers and as such all views must be considered before such decisions are reached and implemented.
"As lawmakers, our caucus insists that the approval to funnel out $418 million out of the national treasure under such hazy consent judgment and in the absence of the forensic audit, smacks of an endorsement of corruption.
"Our caucus urges President Buhari not to allow himself to be misled or entangled (himself) in this nebulous enterprise but to listen to the state governors and allow for the audit, particularly on the particulars of claims by creditors as well as the circumstances leading to the suspicious consent judgement," Elumelu stated in the release.
The Minority caucus demands that the Attorney General and Minister of Justice should avail himself of the audit to bring the processes and circumstances surrounding the judgment debt to public glare.
It maintains that the open audit should unravel those behind the consent judgment, the propriety of such measures as well as why the objection by the governors was ignored.
It further contends that the consent judgement which predicated the payment of the doubtful $418 million on deductions from allocations to states and local governments would put unwarranted burden on the already overstrained tiers of government and worsen the economic and infrastructural deficit in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment