PTF: N25bn disappeared under Buhari -PDP Campaign Organisation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Organisation yesterday disagreed with the clean bill of health given to General Muhammadu Buhari by former President Olusegun Obasanjo over the N25 billion-fraud that took place in the ad ministration of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) by Buhari as executive chairman.

The PDP Campaign Organisation, in a statement issued by the Director of Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, reads: 'We believe that one of the cardi nal principles of democracy, good governance and decency is to al ways set the record straight and let the Nigerian people know the truth. This has been the hallmark of President Goodluck Jonathan and his government for the last four years and we intend to en sure that this continues. We do not believe that anything ought to be hidden and we believe that in the contest for the Presidency the record of public office of each and every one of the presidential candidates is relevant and must be subjected to scrutiny and public debate.

'It is to this end that we make reference to the findings of the Dr Haroun Adamu-led Interim Management Committee probe of Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) where General Muhammadu Bu hari, the presidential candidate of the APC, presided as executive Chairman for a number of years while General Sani Abacha was in p ower. The fi nal r eport o f that probe exposed nothing but monumental sleaze and the most pervasive and insidious type of corruption in PTF while Gen eral Buhari held sway there. The report concluded its findings by recommending that the PTF under General Buhari and his entire team be asked to explain the circumstances in which N25 758,532,448.00 disappeared and could not be accounted for.

'As the chief executive officer of PTF at the time Buhari, and no one else, must be held responsible for this. The fact that the recom mendation of the Committee was never acted upon by the Olusegun Obasanjo government is rather curious and gives us some cause for concern. This is especially so given the fact that the same General Buhari that was so badly indicted by the report is now vy ing for the exalted office of Presi dent of Nigeria. This is made all the more worrisome given the fact that the Army General has consistently held himself out as Mr. Integrity while he consis tently accuses President Good luck Jonathan of monumental corruption. The truth is that not only has the PTF report put a lie to the suggestion that General Buhari is ''Mr. Clean'' but it has also indicated that he has a case to answer.'

The statement further noted it was curious that Ahmad Salihijo, one of the key direc tors of Afri-Project Consortium, which was contracted by the PTF as management and project con sultants, died under very mysteri ous circumstances shortly after the Dr Haroun Adamu report was submitted to the Federal Gov ernment when Obasanjo was in power. If the man had not died, he would have been in the best posi tion to provide conclusive expla nation of the monumental fraud that took place under the watch of Buhari as PTF chief executive.

The party carpeted former President Obasanjo for his at tempt 'to clear Buhari of all the charges made and issues raised in the report and give him a clean bill of health almost 14 years lat er,' adding that the Adamu report not only conflicted with Obasan jo's new-found position but it also proved that the position taken by the former president has no basis in reality.