Governor faults alleged looters' lists, admits PDP is corrupt

dimeji akinloye

April 2, 2018 10:02 PM

Fayose said FG should focus on the welfare of Nigerians and the security of their lives rather than parading "tales of corrupt Nigerians' list."

Ekiti State Governor,

The Minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed had on Friday, March 30, 2018, released six names of people who allegedly siphoned government funds when they were in power.

Most of the suspected looters whose names were released are members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mohammed, who had described the first list as 'a tip of the iceberg;, released 24 more names of alleged looters on Sunday, April 1.

Among those named in the second list were a former minister of petroleum resources, Dieziani Alison-Madukwe and former aviation minister Femi Fani-Kayode.

Reacting to the lists, Fayose said it was politically motivated.

"The first list of alleged looters released by the government is politically motivated and the second one is an afterthought that was done because Nigerians questioned the first list", he said.

"Nigerians are more interested in their welfare, security of their lives and physical development of the country than tales of corrupt Nigerians’ list", the governor added.

Fayose said this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka.

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The governor admitted that there are corrupt persons within the PDP but accused the APC of shielding treasury looters in its fold.

He said, "The Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) never pretended to Nigerians that it had corrupt people in its fold and the party never protected them. Today, the party has gone ahead to offload the corrupt elements into the APC.

"A government that reinstated and promoted Abdullahi Maina, who was declared wanted for corrupt practices by the International Police Organisation, (INTERPOL) and dismissed in 2013 for alleged N2.1 billion pension is nothing but a government of plunderers".

'Lists based on facts'

On Sunday, during the announcement of the 24 more names of alleged looters, Lai Mohammed slammed the PDP for challenging the Federal Government to name the looters.

"The Federal Government has a large number of alleged looters on its list. What was the PDP expecting when it challenged the FG to name the looters of the public treasury under the party’s watch? Did the PDP actually believe that the massive looting under its watch was a joke?" he queried.

He said the lists were based on verifiable facts, including the amount involved, the date the amount in question was collected and from where it was taken.

The minister noted that the government will neither be intimidated nor blackmailed into silence, adding that it will also not rest until all those who looted the public treasury have been brought to justice.

dimeji akinloye