The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday said that it was not aware of Senator Godwin Akpabio’s defection plan to the All Progressives Congress (APC) since the Senate Minority Leader has not officially notified the party of his move. Consequently, the party stated it may be forced to do the needful by challenging Akpabio’s defection in court.
The National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, gave this indication when responding to questions from journalists at a press briefing he addressed at the party’s secretariat, Abuja. He said the PDP as at the time of the briefing has not been notified either in person or through writing by the former governor of Akwa Ibom State of his decision to leave the party.
When asked what would be the response of the party to the defection slated for Wednesday in Ikot Ekpene, Ologbondiyan said: “When we get notice of his resignation from the party, we will respond accordingly because if I should say anything now, I would be responding to the rumour mill by the APC”. He also said the party was not aware of Akpabio’s meeting with Buhari in London, claiming that the senator lied to the party that he was traveling to Germany.
Upon further probe if the party will go to court to challenge Akpabio’s move, the PDP spokesman said, “We will do the needful because it is obvious that there is no crack in the PDP”, questioning what would have been the justification for Akpabio’s defection. Reacting to the plea by the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, to the National Assembly to reconvene as a matter of urgency to consider President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for virement to finance 2019 general election, he said the presidential aide has derelicted on his duty and has failed to advise the executive accordingly.
He said: “It is unfortunate that people who have experience in legislative practices and procedures, when they get to the executive arm, instead of telling the executives the limit of their powers, they pretend to know it all, and by so doing they mislead the executives.
That is exactly what Enang is doing. “Section 12 of the Senate Standing Rule puts the power to reconvene the Senate in the hands of the Senate leader who the rule says he ‘may’ do so if convinced”. “How can they predicate funds meant for election on the proposal for constituencies projects? How can Buhari presidency seat back and declare that the money meant for 2019 general election would be based on an amendment of appropriation bill that is submitted. Why don’t they bill a supplementary budget? That is why I say that people like Ita Enang who has spent his life in the National Assembly has the responsibility to advise the executives on what to do.
The party accused the presidency of plot to implicate and blackmail the legislators, asking why President Buhari did not submit a separate supplementary budget request for the election funding rather than predicating money meant for election on constituency projects. “They are just out to blackmail the NASS by saying they should come back from their recess.
The President has gone on 10 days recess can anybody force him back? The NASS has only gone for its annual recess and it is within its right to choose when to come back”, he said. The party queried the sincerity of President Buhari’s fight against corruption, stressing that the president has deceived Nigerians to secure power on the promise of transparency, accountability and zero tolerance for corruption.
Ologbondiyan said the Buhari Presidency has been diverting public attention from its corruption and primitive stealing by “launching a brutal attack on the opposition, hounding innocent Nigerians for no just cause and seizing the airwaves to brand everybody else as corrupt, while underneath they shamelessly pillage our nation’s resources, stealing money in trillion, under President Buhari’s official cover.
“The PDP challenges President Buhari to explain why his anti-corruption fight has not been extended to investigate the corruption from the leaked memo detailing alleged underhand oil contracts to the tune of N9 trillion ($25billion dollars) at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which are under the direct supervision President Buhari as Minister of Petroleum Resources.
Why has investigation into this scam been suppressed? “The PDP challenges President Buhari to explain to Nigerians whose interest he is protecting by refusing to allow an independent inquest into the alleged corruption in the handling of the N1.4 trillion oil subsidy regime allegedly involving officials at the Presidency, particularly those benefiting from alleged N58 hidden tax per liter which Nigerians have continued to bear since the fuel price increased from PDP subsidized cost of N87 to presumably unsubsidized cost of N145.
“The PDP challenges President Buhari and the APC to explain whose interests they are protecting by suppressing investigation into the alleged use of 18 unregistered companies to lift and divert N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil in 2017. Who are the owners of these companies? Are the companies linked to President Buhari or any of his relatives or even APC leaders?” he said.
The party also asked the Presidency why its enquiries have not been extended to the internationally reported diversion and alleged stealing of N18 billion out of the N48 billion approved by the National Assembly for the rehabilitation of millions of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and rebuilding of six northeast states ravaged by insurgency in the 2017 budget,” the PDP added.
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