Arrest Tinubu Now over N160bn Fraud Allegation, PDP Charges EFCC

 

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to prove the strength of its integrity by investigating and prosecuting the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, over allegations of tax fraud.

The opposition party said Nigerians could now see how the Ibrahim Magu-led EFCC, which rushes to pounce on, arrest and lock up innocent Nigerians, particularly perceived political opponents of President Muhammadu Buhari without investigation, had practically gone frozen and toothless because a member of the APC cabal is involved.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, on Tuesday stressed that the failure of the EFCC to invite and question Tinubu over an alleged N160 billion tax fraud by a company linked to him would not only suggest that the EFCC has become corrupt under the Buhari presidency, but also exposes the level of rot in the APC administration.

According to him, "Does it not smack of hypocrisy that President Buhari, who boasted that he was going to jail more looters, has been looking the other way, while presidency officials suppress investigations since whistle blowers alerted that Alpha Beta, a company linked with his party leader, Tinubu, allegedly swindled Nigerians to the tune of a whopping N160 billion in tax fraud?”

The PDP noted that if President Buhari is as clean as his handlers would want Nigerians to believe, and  if the presidency is not complicit of corruption, Buhari should allow an investigation and prosecution of Alpha Beta, in an open court, just as his government has been harassing the members of the  opposition as well as  perceived opponents.

The opposition insisted that President Buhari cannot be approving the hounding of innocent opposition members or his perceived enemies on allegations of corruption while at the same time always shielding and defending his party members openly accused and indicted for corruption, in addition to certificate forgers and National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) deserters holding top positions in his government. 

It queried further that “is it not equally hypocritical that under the same Buhari’s watch, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has threatened to block the bank accounts of tax evaders, while a leader of his party had been dragged before the EFCC, yet the president is pretending to be unaware?”

Ologbodiyan noted: "Nigerians can recall that when President Buhari declared that he will jail more looters, the PDP welcomed him and challenged him to start with looters in the APC and the presidency, and we insist that in line with the promise President Buhari made to Nigerians, Alpha Beta should be charged accordingly.

"Finally, the president should note that Nigerians are still waiting for his response regarding alleged stealing of N9 trillion at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) under his watch; the alleged N1.4 trillion oil subsidy fraud involving officials at the presidency; the alleged diversion of N1.1 trillion worth of crude oil in 2017 by APC interests; alleged stealing of N18 billion Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) funds; the alleged stealing of over N25 billion National Health Insurance Fund (NHIS), which investigation was stalled by the presidency, among others for which his presidency has practically turned into a citadel of iniquity and corruption."