The Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC) has said it is shell-shocked by the revelation and confession of some public office-holders and their political associates that they received billions of naira from the $2.1bn appropriated for arms procurement under the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
The party said it was amazed that the fund meant to support the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and other parts of the country, where thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians were killed, wounded and abducted, and millions of people displaced from their homes, could be brazenly looted by eminent public officers and their cronies.
The National Chairman of the party, Mr. Olusegun Peters, who stated this in a statement on Monday in Abuja, argued that there was no moral justification “for the sharing of this blood money by Dasuki and his collaborators.’’
Peters added, “Our hearts bleed that eminent Nigerians entrusted with the security and welfare of the citizenry could be so heartless to divert, misappropriate and embezzle $2.1bn for the procurement of weapons to fight Boko Haram insurgents, when our gallant soldiers protested that they were not well equipped and were Court Marshalled for refusing to fight the insurgents.”
He called on the Federal Government to dig deeper into the arms deal with a view to identifying and prosecuting the culprits to serve as a deterrent to all those who would attempt such heinous crime against the country in future.
Some prominent members of the Peoples Democratic Party, who have been allegedly linked to the sharing of the money, include a former Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Peter Odili (N100m); a former Governor of Sokoto State, Attahiru Bafarawa (N100m); Aliyu Shinkafi (N100m); and a former information minister, Chief Jim Nwobodo (N500m).