An All Progressives Congress (APC) governor in one of the Northern states and a top leader of the ruling party from the South West zone have been linked with the ownership of REMITA, a consultancy firm which allegedly received N25 billion a day for transferring the sum of N2.5 trillion to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
The allegation was made on Thursday in Abuja by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Acting National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus.
He stated this in his address at the party’s National Conference in the nation’s capital. Secondus, who highlighted the excesses of the APC government since it assumed office on May 29 this year, accused the APC-led Federal Government of selective implementation of its anti-corruption fight.
The PDP chairman said that only on Wednesday, the Senate started the investigation of an allegation involving “the payment of commission to a company allegedly owned by a Northern APC governor and a South Western APC Leader for collecting monies meant for the Single Treasury Account in violation of the BIOFA Act.
“This is an unprecedented ripoff of our commonwealth. We urge a thorough investigation of this allegation and the transparent prosecution of anybody indicted in this fraudulent deal, no matter how highly placed,” Secondus said.
On Wednesday, the Senate had urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Ministry of Finance to suspend payments into the TSA to allow a thorough investigation of the fraud in its op- erations. Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba has called on the Federal Government to tell Nigerians the truth about the TSA collection agent which received the N25 billion as fee for a day’s transaction.
At a public lecture on “Good Governance with Special Focus on the National Assembly” organise by the NLC in Abuja on Thursday, Wabba said the government must dispel or agree that “what we saw in the national newspapers is true or false.
As part of our position to facilitate change as this administration preaches, we have taken our position in monitoring our political office holders, so that they can be accountable to the people which is the only way for us to get it right.”
“If what the papers said is true, that the Federal Govern ment contracted the agent which serves as the remitter to collect money into the TSA has benefited to the tune of N25 billion, the money that would have been used to fix some of our challenges, then I don’t think we are practicing what we are preaching and I am not sure we are really trying to bring a positive change in Nigeria because the change we want is one that will put food on our tables, not money in the pockets of a few,” he said.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) President, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama, also called for a probe of the alleged TSA scam.
He also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to develop “our solid minerals sector, agriculture, improve our power sector and create jobs by way of developing our tourism potentials.” At the PDP conference, notable leaders of the party were absent.
They included the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, his deputy, Alhaji Namadi Sambo; Second Republic Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, Mallam Adamu Ciroma and Senator David Mark.
No reason was given for their absence except former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida who declined the invitation on ground of age and resignation from partisan politics.
N25bn TSA fraud: PDP reveals owners of REMITA
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