Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), yesterday, demanded the immediate prosecution of former Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Yunusa Maihaja over alleged N33 billion fraud in the agency.
The PDP in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, charged Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to come clean on the NEMA scandal.
The opposition party recalled that the House of Representatives had exposed alleged fraud in NEMA in relation to the procurement of grains under the emergency intervention on food security in the North East..
It noted that the former NEMA boss under whose watch the alleged fraud occurred should not be allowed to leave office without being investigated and prosecuted.
“Our party believes that the failure to prosecute the indicted former NEMA Director General as a ploy to shield very top officials in the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration, who are alleged to be involved in the series of scam in NEMA, while the masses, for whom the fund was meant to serve, continue to suffer neglect and untold hardships.
“The PDP insists that the sacking of Engr. Maihaja should not be used as an excuse to foreclose an investigation into the huge fraud in NEMA under Vice President Osinbajo as Chairman of Governing Board.”
“The vice president had failed to provide cogent response to the report of the House of Representatives on the N33 billion NEMA fraud in addition to allegations that the N5.8 billion was withdrawn from the national coffers, while he was acting President, without legislative consent and expended without recourse to extant due process, procurement and contract rules.
“Indeed, the failure of the Buhari Presidency to prosecute Maihaja, despite his indictment by the House of Representatives, had raised serious issues of alleged complicity in high places, for which Nigerians expect Prof. Osinbajo, as Chairman of Governing Board of the agency, to come clean.
“It is even more saddening that the looted fund is part of the money set aside for emergency response such as provision of palliatives and other essentials for the poor masses to mitigate the hardships that would be occasioned by emergencies such as the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The party charged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to use “the report of the House of Representatives as a working document and immediately invite Maihaja for questioning.