Condemns proposed VAT increase, insecurity
Sunday Okobi
Niger Delta women under the auspices of Warri Women Consultative Assembly (WWCA) yesterday charged President Muhammadu Buhari not to repeat the mistake of the past where politicians of questionable character were appointed into sensitive positions in major Ministries, Departments and Agencies(MDAs), thereby immersing the populace in perpetual hardship.
The group, which congratulated the president on his recent victory at the 2019 general election as well as his inauguration for a second term in office, maintained that all appointees must be investigated and declared clean of corrupt act before confirmation.
The group, led by its President, Chief Rita-Lori Ugbebor, at a press conference held in Lagos, where a letter written to the president was disclosed to journalists, further urged Buhari to uphold his ‘unrivaled’ integrity in appointing politicians to head different agencies, adding that it is his integrity that has kept the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the country strong.
In the letter, Ugbebor said: “We the Warri Women Consultative Assembly welcome you back to Aso Rock as we congratulate you for a hard won victory in the 2019 general election.
“Our fight for integrity and anti-corruption is a fight we believe in, and we are therefore determined that it should succeed. This is the only way Nigeria can be a country of pride, stability, hunger and penury-free. Since your victory at the election, we know you must have been bombarded by job seekers.
“However, we know them, and that’s why we are writing to remind you of the feelings of those who have fought alongside you in the struggle for credibility and anti-corruption. Sir, remember that a lot of us contributed to your victory and we are confident that you would not let us down by appointing men, who have ruined us in their previous positions. Already, people are looking for jobs in the highest places like ministerial appointments, NNPC, NDDC, Ministry of Niger
Delta, DESOPADEC among others.
“We ask that you look into the integrity and lives of these people who are asking for these jobs, because I anyone of them is appointed, we shall rise and take to the street like never before”
The veteran journalist added that a lot of these ‘job seekers’ have cases with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), ICPC and the police(DSS), adding that “they are using the power of corruption (money) to suppress these cases, but we know them.
“We therefore ask that before these men are appointed to these high positions, they should be referred to the law enforcement agencies for clearance. If this is not done, these men will viciously use their positions to marginalise, milk this country and suppress those of us who are fighting, thereby making our lives more miserable.”
Meanwhile, the Lagos-based business woman has, in her personal capacity as a foremost industrialist, appealled to President Buhari not to increase Value Added Tax (VAT), saying if a “great leader like Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is one of our country’s visionaries, has written about this severally, it cannot be more true, and should be left alone to avoid compounding the already compounded economic situation in the country.
