Buhari group mocks PDP over N6bn fraud allegation

The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has said tha Nigeria and Nigerians dodged a bullet by rejecting the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 and 2019 Presidential elections.

The group said this against the backdrop of a N6bn fraud allegation contained in a petition by PDP staff to the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

In a statement signed by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, the BMO noted that the allegation was yet another evidence of PDP’s penchant for looting and misappropriation of funds.

“Nigerians are only just getting to know that a party which was politicking in the run-up to the 2019 elections with slogans such as ‘Grow Nigeria’ and ‘Get Nigeria Working Again’ has not been paying its Secretariat staff, even after raising as much as N6bn from the sale of forms for the 2019 general elections.

“This is a reflection of how the former ruling party treated Nigerian workers and pensioners who were laid off long before 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari began to clear pension backlogs of even those who were disengaged by some Government-owned Enterprises (GoEs) in the aftermath of the Obasanjo-era privatisation exercise.

“Nigerians are also aware of the situation between 2011 and 2014 when federal workers, including civil servants from about 27 states, were owed salaries at a time the country recorded higher oil receipts.

“And who doesn’t know about how PDP, in 2014, raised more than N27bn for it’s headquarter building that was to initially cost N6bn, but still couldn’t complete the building because the funds raised evaporated.

“The 16-year tenure of the party at the centre is littered with tales of misappropriation and other malfeasances including the re-looting of recovered Abacha loot.

“Yet, these are the characters that sought to hoodwink Nigerians in 2019 with a ‘get Nigeria working again’ gimmick which the discerning electorate rejected outrightly,” it added.

BMO also wants the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) to take a look at an aspect of the allegation that has to do with tax fraud.

The group said: “We understand from the petition that PDP had been making tax deductions from staff salaries without evidence of remittance to the appropriate authorities.

“This is one claim that we urge the FIRS to investigate with a view to ascertaining the truth.

“And if this allegation is found to be true then it won’t be surprising because this party has a reputation for cutting corners,” the statement added.

BMO however urged the aggrieved workers not to give up on their quest for the payment of their entitlements.