The Peoples Democratic Party on Saturday berated President Muhammadu Buhari administration over the memo by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, indicting the acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, of financial scam.
The party said that memo had further exposed the abysmal corruption, deception and hypocrisy that is going on in the the administration.
In a statement by spokesman of the party, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP described the development as the worst national embarrassment in the history of Nigeria.
The party wondered how the head of anti-corruption agency in an administration that prides itself on zero tolerance for corruption is being dragged on allegation of diversion of recovered funds and fraudulent sale of assets seized by the agency.
The statement reads in part, “Malami’s memo has also exposed the credentials of President Muhammadu Buhari’s anti-corruption architecture, rubbished his standing as Africa Union (AU) Anti-Corruption Champion and shattered our national integrity in the international arena.
“The world can now see that the much-hyped anti-corruption fight of the Buhari administration has been nothing but a huge fraud and a racket by certain persons in the APC administration to harass political opponents, intimidate and extort money from innocent Nigerians and steal public funds.
“Nigerians and the world have further seen why corruption has worsened under the Buhari administration, as copiously documented by credible international organization, including the Transparency International (TI).
“Indeed, our party, Nigerians across board and, of course, members of the international community, have completely lost confidence in President Buhari’s capacity to fight corruption as he has not demonstrated the littlest effort against corruption since he came into office in 2015.”
According to the party, Buhari administration has continued to run a system that condones corrupt practices by officials of his administration while providing cover for individuals indicted for corruption including those who are now serving as cabinet ministers and other federal appointees in his government.
“Our party therefore holds the latest report coming from none other than the Attorney General of the Federation; the EFCC’s supervising minister, who believably has unhindered access to facts and documents related to the anti-graft issues, must be received by President Buhari as a huge demand on him to clean up the system,” PDP said.
The party called on the National Assembly to wade in the matter by commencing an Independent investigation; urging that the onus is on the legislative assembly to ensure that the matter was not swept under the carpert.
“Our party also calls on Mr. Magu to immediately step aside and submit himself for an independent investigation in order to clear his name,” Ologbondiyan added in the statement.
