The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to explain publicly, the whereabouts of the $1bn drawn from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, as security fund.
The PDP made the demand in a press statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan on Sunday.
The demand followed the confession by the National Security Adviser, NSA, Gen. Babagana Mongunu (rtd), that he was not aware of the whereabouts or disbursement of the $1bn ECA fund by the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency in 2017 for security purposes.
The party stated that the confession by the NSA, who coordinates the security architecture of the nation, directly placed a huge burden on President Buhari’s doorsteps over reported stealing and diversion of funds meant for security, while insurgency, banditry, killings and kidnapping festered in the land under his watch.
The party, which had initially raised an alarm that the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration was overtly corrupt, deceptive and unreliable in the handling of the affairs of the nation said the revelation by NSA further vindicated it.
The statement read in part, “It further validates the stance of the PDP that agents of the Buhari Presidency and the APC were hiding under the guise of security to siphon the $1bn from the ECA. This, peharps, informed the desperation by the cabal to draw from the Account without recourse to statutory due process of appropriation by the National Assembly.
“From Gen. Mongunu’s confession, Nigerians can further see why our nation is daily confronted with disturbing videos and reports of our fighting troops protesting their neglect and inadequate equipping, leading to their vulnerability in the fronts.
“Now that the National Security Adviser has declared that he is not aware of the whereabouts of funds, the burden, straightaway, lies squarely on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately address the nation on how the money was handled especially as there are already allegations that certain funds meant for security were diverted for 2019 campaign activities of the APC while our troops languished in the front.”
The party recalled that it had questioned the APC administration’s sincerity in the handling of the ECA fund and had demanded in 2017 for the National Assembly to investigate the handling of the $1bn.
It noted that such diversion of funds under the Buhari administration led to the articulation of a blueprint by Atiku Abubakar for a transparent system that eliminates siphoning of funds, particularly in our critical sectors.
The PDP, therefore, restated its demand that President Buhari should allow a system-wide investigation into the whereabouts of the $1bn, as well as the handling of other funds meant for security purposes under his watch.
