The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has alleged that President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, APC, is planning to syphon N1.2 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to fund 2019 campaign.
In a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, the opposition party said the presidency is planning to draw financial kickback from poor beneficiaries of the Anchor Borrower’s Programme in violation of our financial regulations.
“Information at our disposal also reveals that the Anchor Borrower’s scandal is yet another scheme by the Buhari Presidency to syphon public funds and surreptitiously route same to Mr. President’s campaign.
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“To achieve this ignoble scheme, the Buhari Presidency and the APC shamefully constituted a phoney Anchor Borrowers Farmers’ Association, which they claimed has 12 million members, and through which they plan to syphon and launder money from public coffers to fund President Buhari’s campaign.
“Our check reveals that no such association exists and that the membership figure is just a ruse, another fabrication and attempt at the procurement of fake endorsement by the Buhari Presidency, to create an impression that Nigerians are supporting President Buhari and the APC,” the party asserted.
Mr Ologbondiyan pointed out that investigation has also revealed how the Buhari Presidency has been secretly diverting huge part of various social intervention funds to the Buhari campaign while handing paltry sums to Nigerians.
He noted: “This is in addition to how agents of the Presidency carrying out APC’s vote buying project, particularly the Trader-moni scheme, have been illegally collecting 10 per cent kickback from beneficiaries.
“Now that Nigerians have refused to contribute to Mr President’s re-election bid, due to his failure in office, the Buhari Presidency and the APC are seeking ways to legitimise their stealing of public funds to finance their campaign and service the wasteful lifestyles of their leaders.”
The PDP, therefore, challenged Mr Buhari to speak out and not continue to feign ignorance of these allegations bordering directly on corruption in his Presidency.
The party said that the president should know that keeping quiet would not help him.
