APC, PDP in War of Words over Alleged Corruption in NDDC

APC, PDP in War of Words over Alleged Corruption in NDDC

Chuks Okocha and Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday engaged in war of words over alleged corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The main opposition party fired the first salvo when it issued a statement, alleging that the stench of corruption oozing out of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has further confirmed that the APC is the headquarters of corruption as well as the dockyard of thieves, treasury looters, and oppressive cabal who have stolen our nation dry.

The PDP further accused the APC of seeking to frustrate ongoing probes in government agencies because its leaders are complicit and all soiled, from head to toe, in the mire of corruption.

The party in the statement by the National Publicity secretary, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, noted that APC’s attack against PDP’s insistence on the prosecution of APC leaders indicted in the NDDC probe further betrayed the ruling party’s desperation to shield its corrupt leaders and office holders who have been implicated in the
probe.

The PDP said that the attempt by the APC to accuse the PDP over the collapse of the acting NDDC Managing Director, Prof. Daniel Pondei, at the National Assembly, apparently under the weight and shame of the massive corruption in APC administration further exposed APC’s misery.

According to the spokesperson of the PDP, “Under this administration, no government agency is safe from the pillaging fingers of the APC. The APC and its administration is a huge labyrinth of corruption where APC leaders, cabinet ministers, heads of agencies and departments, presidential aides, anti-corruption agencies and even APC federal lawmakers are all entangled in sharp practices.

“The disgraceful and scandalous appeal of “ Hon. Minister, off your microphone” situation at the National Assembly sums it all.

“Our party challenges the APC to find its voice and speak out on the litany of evidence in the public space, showing how its leaders have been stealing billions of naira NDDC fund while people of the region, wallow in abject poverty and despondency,” PDP stated. .

But in a swift reaction, the APC described the statement credited to the PDP on the ongoing corruption probes as unintelligent.

The spokesman of the Caretaker Committee of the ruling party in a statement issued yesterday said the PDP institutionalised a culture of corruption in the country’s national life, adding that the least the party can do is to allow the current administration right the PDP’s wrongs and restore the institutions to a culture of probity.

He stated: “The position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is unchanged. Clearly, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration’s fight against corruption is total, unsparing and there are no sacred cows. As with all institutions of government, we must continue to entrench transparency and accountability in their operations.

“We are not oblivious of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rehearsed, repeated and unintelligent statements on the ongoing probes of corruption allegations in the polity.

“For the PDP that institutionalised a culture of corruption in our national life, the least they can do is allow the current administration right the PDP’s wrongs and restore our institutions to a culture of probity – definitely a tall order going by the PDP’s well-known and ignoble antecedents.”

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