The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, Malam Garba Shehu, has accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, of looting no less than N2.9 trillion from 2005 to 2015.
Shehu speaking at a mobilization symposium organised by the Buhari Diaspora Support Organization, BDSO, in Abuja declared that more than $83 billion, amounting to N2.9 trillion was stolen money and taken out of Nigeria during the period.
In a keynote address on the Buhari administration’s war against corruption, he expressed amazement at the magnitude of infrastructure development such quantum of stolen money would have delivered to the country, if the funds hadn’t been stolen.
Shehu, who was represented at the event by Niyi Akinsiju, affirmed that the fight against corruption by the APC administration against those he called “beneficiaries of the old order” has earned the country international acclaim, adding that it was the reason Nigerians should re-elect President Buhari
He said those demonising the fight against corruption were opposition politicians who were opposed to change, noting that they had often misconstrued and misinterpreted the toga of Nigeria being home to grand corruption by the International Monetary Fund, IMF, and Transparency International.
He justified the need to bring back President Buhari, since under him, the country’s being celebrated for relentlessly fighting corruption
“Under four years, Nigeria is being celebrated for relentlessly fighting grand corruption,” he said.
The presidential spokesman added that it had become expedient because the Buhari administration wants to deliver on social services for the larger benefit of Nigerians and not a few kleptomaniacs
Earlier, Charles Efe Sylvester, the Global Chairman of the support group, had noted that as Nigerians in the Diaspora who have followed the Buhari’s antecedents since 2014 and having mobilized support for him in 2015, they had again resolved to back his second term ambition.
Sylvester listed integrity, selflessness and patriotism as reasons the group was championing the Buhari cause.
“Since 2014, we have been supporting him because he promotes policies aimed at the betterment of the poor masses and not the few rich ones. He is Mr. Integrity, champion of the masses and the general of the people,” the global chairman added.
He noted that the President deserves a second term since he had delivered on security and the fight against corruption.
“Before now, Boko Haram took over 17 local government areas in the country but that is not the case now; by the concerted efforts of Mr. President, Nigeria has regained its territories.
“Ask Americans who have been fighting ISIS and the Taliban for several years? The fight is not easy, so also is revamping the economy which has been battered by the opposition for 16 years,” Sylvester stated.
He noted that the administration was doing its best in rebuilding the economy, urging Nigerians to read the President’s lips as one who means well for the entire country, rather than misconstruing his actions as being nepotistic and sectional.
