APC Warns Against ‘Last-Minute’ Looting Of Nigeria’s Treasury

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has decried the reported
allegations of last-minute looting of the nation’s resources, hurried recruitment
into the public service and rushed privatization of key financial institutions
by the Jonathan Administration, warning that such egregious actions will have
serious repercussions.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said apart from the instances of
such cases that have been reported by the local media, it has been inundated
with calls and messages by concerned Nigerians, alerting it to the unscrupulous
actions of some Jonathan Administration officials.

It said while the Jonathan Administration remains in office
till midnight of May 28 and governance in the country will not stop because a
new president has been elected, it is incumbent upon the outgoing
Administration not to create any more problems for the incoming government than
it had already done, or to tie the new government’s hands through some
suspicious actions.

APC said while it is true that the incoming Buhari
Administration will not get itself bogged down by an endless probe of the
activities of the Jonathan Administration, all actions taken since the result
of the May 28 presidential election was announced may come under the
searchlight.

“For example, the National Council on Privatization, which
is headed by the Vice President, has just approved the financial bid opening
for transaction advisers for the privatization of the three Development Finance
Institutions in the country – the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and
Nigeria Commodity Exchange. The question is: What is the rationale for rushing
this exercise with just weeks left for this administration?

“Also, there have been reports, yet unrefuted, of a planned
hurried recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service, after a previous
attempt ended in a national tragedy and the fleecing of innocent job seekers by
mindless federal government officials. Apart from the fact that this
last-minute recruitment is suspect, it is irregular.

“The Civil Defense, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services
Board (CDFIPSB) is only empowered to recruit, promote and discipline only
senior officers (levels 8 and above). The power to recruit, promote and
discipline junior officers is vested in the different services, in this case
the Nigeria 

Immigration Service.

“Therefore, the recruitment exercise now being conducted by
the Federal Civil Service under the auspices of the Presidential Committee to
Assist on Immigration Recruitment usurps the functions of the Board as it
relates to recruitment of Senior Officers (level 08) and that of the Immigration
Service as it relates to Junior Officers (levels 07 and below),” the party
said.

It also called attention to a published report that the
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed, plans to
use the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to carry out a secret
employment of no fewer than 500 workers before the end of April 2015.

“We do not know if this report, as well as others, is true.
But if indeed these rushed privatizations and hurried recruitment exercises –
in the twilight of the Jonathan Administration – are true, they raise serious
questions concerning the reasons behind such actions. We are therefore
compelled to call on President Jonathan to call his Administration officials to
order, lest they engage in actions that can later embarrass his Administration.

“This is against the backdrop of the precarious situation
into which the Jonathan Administration has plunged the nation’s economy, no
thanks to years of ceaseless and unprecedented profligacy by the outgoing
Administration, as well as mind-boggling acts of corruption and looting of the
public treasury by some Administration officials and their collaborators,” APC
said.

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