FG names 6 PDP looters who stole money from treasury

The Federal Government has released a list of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who allegedly stole money from the nations treasury while the party was in power.

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammad, unveiled the list during a press conference in Lagos on Friday, March 30, 2018.

The list includes current PDP chairman, Uche Secondus, former PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, and PDP chieftain, Raymond Dokpesi.

According to Mohammed, the release of the list is a response to the PDP's public challenge for the government to unveil the name of looters as it has claimed for three years.

In the list which contains six names, Secondus is accused of taking N200 million from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on February 19, 2015; Metuh is listed as being on trial for allegedly collecting N1.4bn from ONSA; while Dokpesi is listed as being on trial for allegedly taking N2.1 billion from ONSA.

Others on the list are Dudafa Waripamo-Owei, a former aide to former president, Goodluck Jonathan, who is listed as being on trial for allegedly keeping over N830 million in accounts of four different companies; and the former president's cousin, Robert Azibaola, who recently had a Federal High Court ruling decide that he has a case to answer for allegedly collecting $40 million from ONSA.

The final person on the list is a former PDP Financial Secretary who also allegedly took N600 million from ONSA on October 24, 2018.

Mohammed said on Friday that the fact most of them are in court and trying to cut a deal with the government is a clear indication that the PDP has damaged Nigeria with corruption and cannot be trusted to return to power.

He said, "The PDP has challenged us to name the looters under their watch. They said they did not loot the treasury. Well, I am sure they know that the treasury was looted dry under their watch. Yet they decided to grandstand. This shows the hollowness of their apology.

"They are in court and the records are available. Some of the people on this list are seeking to plea bargain, and that is a fact.

"We insist that Nigeria was looted blind under the watch of the PDP and that the starting point in tendering an apology is for them to return the loot."