Any suspicion of corruption in the public sector is investigated and culprits dealt with under the Buhari Administration, unlike in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) years, according to the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO).
It said this in reaction to the opposition party’s claims of a cover-up of alleged misconduct in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
In a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, BMO wondered how a government that instigated and sanctioned a probe of allegations of financial misconduct in the first place, could be accused of a cover-up.
“We are amused by PDP’s latest tirade on the ongoing probe of sundry allegations against the former Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Mohammed Bello. In case, the party missed that part of the news, the investigation was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari based on information at his disposal, and in line with extant rules and regulations in the civil service.
“This is a far cry from what obtained in the PDP years where such allegations were described ‘family affair’, and were subsequently swept under the carpet, sometimes after the direct intervention of persons in high offices to stop the investigation.
“The Muhammadu Buhari administration is hands-on on matters of corruption and has displayed the necessary political will to ensure that any suspicion of corruption is investigated and made public, no matter how long it takes.
“A criminal-minded official may corruptly enrich himself or herself but this administration has shown, at different times, that once caught, such persons would be investigated and dealt with, as seen in the recent sack of the Registrar of the National Examinations Council (NECO) Charles Uwakwe and four members of the management team.
“Uwakwe was accused of violating the Public Procurement Act of 2007 and had been placed on suspension since 2018 during which a panel investigated allegations of misconduct against him and his team and found them guilty.
” Do we need to remind PDP of the cases of former Secretary to Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the immediate past Head of Service of the Federation Winifred Oyo-Ita who are now facing trial for similar acts of financial misconduct”, it added.
BMO accused the former ruling party of working in line with a strategy to present the All Progressives Congress (APC) government as also corrupt.
“It is increasingly glaring that the PDP has been working on its 2023 campaign template to paint APC as equally corrupt, and that is why the party has latched on anything it could lay its hands on, including sheer fabrications, in an unceasing but futile attempts to taint the Buhari administration.
” We are convinced that Nigerians are not easily fooled as they can see the plan for what it is-evil seeking companion. There is a world of difference between a party birthed in corruption and one with a demonstrable commitment to fighting corruption to a standstill.
” The signs are there with the ongoing trials of former top officials of the administration as well as some former government officials that were given top-level cover by the former PDP administration, to the extent that the Senate had to issue a threat of non-cooperation before that ‘cover’ was lifted. As the media aide of the then Senate President, Kola Ologbondiyan, the PDP spokesman knows what we are talking about here!
“Here is a party that twice raised a cumulative sum of N27bn for its headquarters project but has only a carcass of a building to show for it.”
The group consequently urged Nigerians to ignore PDP and trust in the Buhari administration’s capacity to ensure that any erring government official would face the music appropriately.