The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Friday released the list of those, he said allegedly looted the economy during the stewardship of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He also mentioned the names of five people and the amount allegedly siphoned by them from the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA. However, those listed still have pending alleged corruption cases in the courts. According to Mohammed: ”The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. “I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand. This shows the hollowness of their apology to Nigerians. Let us just give them a teaser.
“This list is just a tip of the iceberg, and the PDP is aware of this. We did not make these cases up. Many of these cases are in court and the records are available. Some of the people on this list are seeking a plea bargain, and that is a fact. “We insist that Nigeria was looted blind under the watch of the PDP, and the starting point in tendering an apology is for them to return the loot.
Reacting to the statement the PDP dismissed the list as laughable.
The party in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan challenged the government to come up with names of its member convicted for looting. The statement reads: “The federal government has manifested its frenzy by going after matters that are in court and in which none of the persons have been convicted, thus betraying their wickedness and desperation to mislead the public, the court and divert attention from the heavy looting involving their members. “We are not in doubt that the individuals he has mentioned will take their legitimate stride and pursue appropriate action in the court.
However, attacks on individuals who are members of our party do not in anyway change the fact that the PDP, as a political platform, is not a party of corruption. “It is unfortunate that the APC and its government under whose watch horrendous sleazes are happening on daily basis can spend three years searching for flimsy allegations to discredit our party.”