By Jimi Anjolaoluwa – Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came under attack for sabotaging COVID-19 intervention efforts in the country, through its attack on state institutions and and other intervention initiatives of the government.
The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Yekini Nabena accused the opposition party in Abuja on Tuesday.
Nabena who reacted to PDP allegation of fraud in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), particularly its COVID-19 intervention efforts at providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and other medical kits to fight the spread of COVID-19 in the Niger Delta region described the action of the opposition as a delibrate distraction.
Describing the allegation as baseless and a sponsored campaign of calumny against the Commission, the APC chieftain advised the Interim Management Committee set up for the NNDC to focus on it’s mandate, stressing that the allegation was a delibrate effort to cause confussion and to distract the Commission from impacting postively on the people of the region.
Nabena, “It is now public that the PDP knowingly relied on forged contract papers for its baseless and unsubstantiated fraud allegations and attacks on the NDDC’s COVID-19 intervention. I advise the PDP to focus on nation building and support efforts to ease the inconveniences, pains and losses brought by coronavirus on Nigerians.
“There is no fraud in the commission. The PDP’s baseless allegations is deliberate and similar to its others actions to discredit government and other COVID-19 interventions in the country. It is clear that the PDP’s action is sponsored by those attempting to frustrate the ongoing forensic audit in the NDDC ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The NDDC is actively supporting government’s effort to combat the coronavirus. Recently, the commission secured presidential approval for its COVID-19 support to supply medical kits and build isolation centres in the nine Niger Delta states.
“The commission has disbursed N775m to assist Niger Delta states fight the coronavirus, along with N270 million as palliatives to youths, women and peoples living with disabilities affected by the lockdown.
“The PDP should bury their heads in shame for their corrupt and shameful antecedents in the NDDC. Perhaps, the PDP should have done a simple search on why a Federal High Court sent one of its Senators, Peter Nwaoboshi to prison.”
Nabena recalled that under the PDP “the commission was mandated to conceive, plan and implement plans for the sustainable development of the Niger Delta, known as the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (NDRDMP) with a whopping sum of N12 billions expended on a document that is less than 257 pages but the former ruling party did not have anything to show.
“The crating of the plan started in 2001, yet up till now, the Master Plan has not been published. So far, a whopping sum of N12 billion has been . Since inception, the Master Plan has constituted the single largest expenditure head of NDDC budget.”
The APC spokesman also said that since inception till now, PDP Senators have being the Senate Committee Chairman of the NDDC, a means he said the party has been using resources meant to develop the Niger Delta into funding party activities.
End.
