The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Nigerians to reject and resist what it described as “the renewed attempt by the Presidency to loot $1 billion from the national coffers to finance President Muhammadu Buhari’s interests in the All Progressives Congress (APC)’s National Convention and 2019 campaign.”

The party also urged the National Assembly to commence appropriate constitutional legislative actions against President Buhari for gross misconduct in unilaterally approving the release of the fund without allowing for the application of legislative instrument.

PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Thursday, said its investigation revealed that the Presidency willfully sidestepped the National Assembly so as to avoid legislative scrutiny and accountability and pave way for the diverting of the fund for selfish partisan purposes.

According to the statement, “It is a notorious fact that the Presidency and the APC have been plotting to loot this $I billion from our heavily depleted Excess Crude Account (ECA) since last year, using the guise of fight against insurgency.

“This is the same Buhari administration that has been boasting of having technically defeated the insurgents. This is also an administration that is not known to have exhausted subsisting budgetary allocations for defense.

“Nigerians are thoroughly disappointed that President Buhari; the same African Union (AU) ‘anti-corruption champion’, who swore to be above board and to protect the constitution and our laws, will allow himself to fall for the temptation of resorting to ways and means which are totally at variance with the laws and all democratic tenets.

“Democracy thrives on constitutional processes of separation of powers, due diligence and transparency and not on totalitarian tendencies.”

PDP said it believes the President, as a leader, reasonably ought to have known that he is in no way above the law.

The party therefore urged the National Assembly” to look into the constitution and impose appropriate legislative instruments against Mr President, if any part of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) has been breached by this unilateral decision.”

Said the party: “We further urge the National Assembly to scrutinise the constitution and other statute books for the purposes of strengthening the laws guiding the application of funds in our country, particularly under this inherently corrupt and incompetent administration.

“Moreover, since it has come to light that the Buhari administration is using the fight against insurgency as a conduit to siphon funds, as evinced in the alleged looting of the N18 billion Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)’s funds, we demand for an independent investigation into the processes of release and utilisation of all special funds for war against insurgency in the last three years.”

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