Edo State governor who accompanied Buhari in 4-days State visit to
United States has alleged that A minister who served under the former
Goodluck Jonathan administration, stole $6billion (more than N1.2
trillion), he told Reporters on Monday.
But quick contact with United States Department in Washington-DC, on the
matter said it is false allegation. US State Department denied the
story, asked Oshiomhole, to name the official and not drag United States
into Nigeria domestic politics, Republic Reporters gathered.
Oshiomhole who failed to disclose the name of the minister said the
details were provided last week by United States officials during
President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit there. Mr. Oshiomhole, who was part
of the delegation, did not give the name of the minister. “We have moved
away from a president that doesn’t seem to know his powers to one that
understands that he is a president of the country in the continent,” Mr.
Oshiomhole said in response to criticisms of the trip by the opposition
Peoples Democratic Party.
He spoke on Monday at the state house where he and the Kebbi State
governor, Atiku Bagudu, as members of the APC governors’ forum, briefed
President Buhari on the outcome of a discussion held with APC Senators
Sunday. “PDP destroyed the country- I mean from the lips of American
officials; senior officials of the state department. They said one
minister under PDP cornered as much as $6billion, and the man said even
by Washington standard that is earth-quaking,” he said.
He said the country was being very patient with the PDP; otherwise
Nigerians would have been “stoning” anyone carrying the badge of the
party. Mr. Oshiomhole said the PDP government plundered Nigeria,
destroyed its institutions, damaged the military, converted the NTA to a
party megaphone, destroyed the SSS, went after opposition, and
compromised even student unions. Mr. Oshiomole said under the PDP, there
was no law as they were law to themselves. “We are a very patient
people. If we were not a patient people, anybody wearing the tag of PDP
ought to feel very unsafe because you are all victims- all of us here,”
he said.
He quoted American officials as saying that Mr. Jonathan was seen as a
confused president who did not know what they issues were, leaving
others outside the country “frustrated”. Recalling a chat with the US
Assistant Secretary of State, Johnnie Carson, on the difference between
the two administrations, Mr. Oshiomhole said Mr. Carson told him that
each time they thought that there was light at the end of the tunnel for
Nigeria and it is time to encourage them to build on it, “you we would
wake up the following day under president Jonathan to find out that even
the tunnel had been removed”.
“Now last week, this same Carson cheered the president’s address at the
Institute of Peace. And he said ‘we now have a man of enormous
integrity; one that has shown so much faith in the democratic process;
one that refused to be frustrated even in the face of massively rigged
elections,” he said. –
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