The Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) has strongly condemned the withdrawal of the sum of $462million from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) by President Muhammed Buhari.
The president had reportedly given the approval for the purchase of 12 Super Tucano fighter jets from United State of America.
In a statement signed by John George Itodo, a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in Abuja stated that, apart from the fact that the cost of the fighter jet were grossly inflated according to multiple media sources, that the president only notified the National Assembly after the withdraw had been made is tantamount to utter disregard for the constitution.
“The present All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government has been trying to outdo the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led government in terms of perpetration of illegalities. This same APC, when in opposition, vehemently attacked the former President, Goodluck Jonathan, for making approvals from the excess crude account, yet he never made this type of approval for which the formal president was nearly lynched, albeit literally,†the ANN said.
The party said though the APC came into power on the strength of message of change but nothing in the modus operandi of the party and its major leading players, including President Buhari, has shown that the party was ready to effect changes that will affect the life of Nigerians positively.
The ANN said APC is rather trying to outdo its Siamese twins, the PDP, in terms of impunity and illegality.
The president, according to multiple sources, had already given the approval and was only seeking the inclusion of the money in the 2018 budget which is yet to be passed by the National Assembly.
“We know the APC is building a financial war-chest for the 2019 presidential elections,†ANN said. “It is now left to Nigerians to resist these fraudulent approvals and we are calling on the National Assembly to launch an investigation to this latest approval and punish, accordingly, any constitutional infraction.â€
