*You can’t suppress investigation, opposition party replies Senate leadership, APC
Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as an entity bereft of focus and purpose following the latter’s call for Senate President Godswill Akpabio to step aside over the matter of an unsubstantiated allegation of budget padding.
The ruling party said the main opposition party was behaving like a political scavenger, always quick to feast on sham without thought and consideration for facts and institutional due process.
However, the PDP yesterday slammed the APC leadership in the Senate for seeking to use diversionary press statements to suppress the demand for an open investigation into the alleged improper insertion of N3.7 trillion for non-existing projects in the 2024 budget.
The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Felix Morka, in a statement issued yesterday, said PDP’s call for Akpabio to step aside was nothing short of “crass buffoonery”.
He said: “Again, the PDP has showed itself as an entity bereft of focus and purpose, and like a political scavenger, always quick to feast on sham without thought and consideration for facts and institutional due process.
“It is rather ridiculous that the PDP that is unable to govern itself would seek to dictate to the Senate how it should conduct its proceedings and handle internal matters of discipline of its members.
“Exactly how is the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi without first referring the matter to a Senate Standing Committee proof of a cover up? How is a committee of the full Senate conducting an inquiry in the matter, in full public view on national television, less independent and transparent or in violation of the Senate’s Standing Rules or any other laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria?”
Morka, said contrary to the PDP’s twisted argument, the Senate neither violated its Standing Rules and Orders nor the Constitution by not referring the matter to a relevant committee.
He said, rather, placing the matter before the Committee of the Whole, under public scrutiny, “underscored the premium the Senate placed on transparency in the conduct of its proceedings. It was clear for all to see that the author of the allegation was unable to offer any substantiation or justification.”
The spokesperson added: “It is eerily comical that the PDP, a party with a sordid legacy of monumental corruption would suggest that the President of the Senate should turn himself to anti-graft agencies for investigation.
“This is the entity that turned graft and corruption to statecraft, the same entity that cannot account for funds raised for the building of its own national headquarters, making such a ridiculous call. The PDP should lead by example and heed its own call.”
The ruling party noted that the legislative authority of the Senate includes the authority to make its own rules and adopt its own procedures for discharging its constitutional mandate.
It said that extends to modifying its rules and standing orders in accordance with its rules and procedures, and in observance of all applicable legal and constitutional standards.
The APC added that It also has the authority to discipline its members in accordance with its institutional and constitutional due process.
Meanwhile, the PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, asserted that from the incoherent, knee-jerk and dismissive statement issued by the APC leadership in the Senate on Thursday, it was clear that the APC-led Senate was jittery that an open and detailed investigation into the allegation will further expose the perpetrators and how money was allegedly shared among members lawmakers of the ruling party.
The PDP said the press statement further confirmed the presence of an APC budget cabal in the Senate and that the Senator Akpabio-led APC leadership is insensitive and does not care about the welfare of the Nigerian people.
According to Ologunagba, “It is highly provocative that at this time when Nigerians are passing through severe economic hardship, the APC leadership in the Senate is busy defending and frustrating investigation into allegation of massive manipulation and looting of resources meant for the well-being of the citizens.
“The Akpabio-led APC leadership in the Senate ought to know that no amount of threats, harassment, suspension of whistleblowers and attempts to blackmail the opposition through diversionary press statements and sponsored articles in a section of the media can suppress the demand for an open investigation into the alleged budget padding which is already in the public domain.
“The PDP and Nigerians are however not deterred by attacks by the APC leadership in the Senate which is a clear case of corruption fighting back in the face of public scrutiny,” he stressed.
More importantly, the PDP said that the failure by the Akpabio-led APC leadership to allow for investigation into the budget padding allegation constitutes a huge smear on the image of the Senate and destroys its rectitude and integrity to perform its constitutional duty to investigate and oversight other public institutions; a situation that spells doom to our constitutional democracy if not immediately checked.
He said, “If Senator Akpabio has nothing to fear, he should immediately recall Senator Abdul Ningi and allow for an open and detailed investigation into the allegation of discrete insertion of N3.7 trillion into the 2024 budget.
“Our party, standing shoulder to shoulder with Nigerians, insists that Senator Akpabio should step aside and allow for a credible investigation, as he cannot be a judge in this matter.”
The PDP also called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restore the integrity of the 2024 budget by immediately ordering an open investigation into the alleged insertion as well as a holistic review of the budget.
Furthermore, the PDP said that it stands by its demand that Senator Akpabio should report at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation into the alleged looting of N108 billion belonging to the people of Akwa Ibom State and the N86 billion alleged contract scam under his watch as the governor of Akwa Ibom State and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs respectively.
