Reno Omokri, a former
presidential aide, has reacted to the position of Zamfara State Governor and
Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum, Abdulazeez Yari on the $1billion
withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account.
Omokri said Yari’s statement on
the sum said to be for the fight against insurgency and insecurity across the
country has exposed the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, Kaduna
State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and All Progressives Congress, APC, national
leader, Bola Tinubu as liars.
Yari had stated that the decision
to allow the Federal Government access the money was a collective one by the
forum in regards to security of Nigerians which is a top priority.
http://dailypost.ng/2017/12/17/gov-yari-tackles-fayose-n1-billion-released-boko-haram-war/
Reacting to Yari’s statement,
Omokri said the governor’s comment has put him and the APC to ridicule.
In a statement he personally
signed, Omokri maintained that Yari’s statement has shown that APC members are
“a patently dishonest bunch with no credibility whatsoever.”
The statement reads, “In an
attempt to justify the dubious process by which $1 Billion was taken from the
Excess Crude Account by the Federal Government ostensibly to fund an anti
terror war with the same Boko Haram that the Buhari administration said was
‘finished’ and ‘technically defeated’, the Zamfara state Governor, Abdulaziz
Yari, who is also the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum made some
startling revelations which has exposed him to ridicule and further shown that
his party, the All Progressive Congress, and its members, are a patently
dishonest bunch with no credibility whatsoever.
“Speaking yesterday (Tuesday 19th
December, 2017) at Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Alhaji Yari said of the $1
Billion withdrawal as follows:
“This thing (ECA withdrawal) has
been done in 2014 where $2bn was withdrawn in agreement with the governors at
that meeting. Governor Akpabio was the one that moved the motion. This is not
the first time a decision like this is being taken. It happened during
Jonathan’s era when they took $2bn. We all agreed at that time collectively in
the same chamber to withdraw $2bn to procure equipment for the military and
also for logistics for the military. That was what generated discussions at the
same chamber and there was no controversy and no opposition to the decision at
that time.”
“Notice from this statement that
Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari, an APC member, is now admitting that he and his
colleagues in the APC all agreed to the withdrawal of $2 billion from the
Excess Crude Account that was made in 2014. Note further that he said there was
no controversy and no opposition to the decision taken in 2014.
“However, Nigerians may recall
that at the material time when this incident occurred, both the All Progressive
Congress and its prominent members like the then Rivers State Governor, Rotimi
Amaechi, the then Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and their National
Leader, Bola Tinubu, denied that there was ever any agreement with the Jonathan
administration over the withdrawals and publicly attacked the then President
and accused him of looting and other forms of corruption.
“In fact, in 2015, when the
former Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala said
exactly what Governor Yari has been forced to admit to, Governor Nasir El-Rufai
(who was not even a governor in 2014 and was not present at the meeting
Governor Yari has described) called Dr. Mrs. Iweala a liar and described her as
‘morally flexible’.
“Then on the 1st of July, 2015,
then Governor Adams Oshiomhole was interviewed on Channels television and
described as untrue the statement by Dr. Mrs. Iweala that the governors under
the aegis of the National Economic Council agreed to the withdrawal of $2
billion from the Excess Crude Account and called the process by which the money
was withdrawn by the Jonathan administration as an “administrative arrangement
not known to the constitution”.
“Only as recently as last week,
the fallacious Rotimi Amaechi repeated the falsehood that neither he nor his
colleagues were ever consulted or gave their acquiescence before the Jonathan
administration withdrew funds from the Excess Crude Account.
“Again, at the material time in
2014, when the Jonathan administration tried to explain why it needed the funds
to fight the same Boko Haram insurgents that the Buhari government claimed has
been technically defeated, the APC released a statement and ‘described as
disingenuous and sheer blackmail the argument that the money is for national
security or that it would facilitate the release of the over 200 school girls
who were abducted about 100 days ago.’
“The APC spokesman, Lai Mohammed,
who is now the minister of information further said “putting more money in the
hands of an incompetent and massively corrupt administration can only encourage
more incompetence and corruption. Not done, Mr. Lai Mohammed also claimed that
the monies then President Jonathan was seeking was meant to be used to impeach
APC Governors and rig the 2015 elections.
“His exact words were “With the
Jonathan Administration allegedly spending or setting aside an average of 2
billion Naira to impeach each Governor of APC states, and the PDP-led
Administration using the common wealth to bribe voters in a desperate bid to
win elections at all costs. Not to be outdone, the National Leader of the APC,
Bola Tinubu, called the request by the Jonathan administration “dubious”.
“But in keeping with the
principle that no matter how far and fast falsehood has traveled, it must
eventually be overtaken by truth, Governor Abdulaziz Yari has now vindicated
both former President Jonathan and the former minister of finance and
Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, by
admitting in 2017 that both he and his colleagues (which included Rotimi
Amaechi and Adams Oshiomhole) actually agreed with the Jonathan administration
to withdrew $2 billion from the Excess Crude Account in 2014.
“I therefore call on the Nigerian
public and the international community to note that the APC and its members all
lack credibility and are willing to say anything at anytime to justify their
political position irrespective of whether it is true or false.”
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