A war of words has broken out between Nigeria’s two main political parties over alleged diversion of military funds to finance electioneering. The latest ‘clash’ began when the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the Minister of Defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan-Ali, of diverting funds meant for the military equipment and welfare of soldiers fighting insurgency in the northeast, to produce partisan materials for All Progressives Congress (APC) re-election campaign.
Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP National Publicity Secretary in a statement Monday accused the “Defence Minister of diverting part of the military funds to produce APC’s campaign materials including an electronic momento book, on which he ascribed credit to himself and the APC, while our soldiers suffer neglect in the war front.
PDP said “the placing of APC logo alongside that of the Ministry of Defence on the momento confirms our position that the Buhari Presidency has compromised our defence architecture for Mr. President’s re-election project.
“Our party considers it insensitive and a gross impunity for the Minister of Defence to be engaging in patronising soveniers for President Buhari at a time when our soldiers are being killed in their numbers.
“It is also instructive to note that President Muhammadu Buhari, as Mr. Integrity, has not reprimanded the minister, ostensibly, given that the diversion of public funds for his re-election campaign is now a policy of the APC and the Buhari Presidency.
“Nigerians can now see how the Buhari Presidency and the APC have turned the Ministry of Defence into their Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) to fund their re-election, at the detriment of our citizens who are being daily attacked by insurgents and marauders in various parts of our country.
Ologbondiyan alleged that “there is a fixation in the Buhari Presidency on winning the 2019 elections at all cost even at the expense of the lives of Nigerians.”
The PDP noted that with these revelations, the APC has proven to be a soulless mob, which has no interest in the good of our nation, but desperate to hang onto power by all means.
The party therefore called “for an open investigation into the handling of military funds to unravel those benefitting from the racket especially given allegation that some persons close to the President are being used as conduits to fritter public funds for President Buhari’s re-election and their wasteful lifestyles.”
However, the ruling All Progressives Congress,APC did not take the allegations by PDP lying low.In its response titled: Metele Attack: PDP, Atiku Dancing on the Graves of Our Valiant, Patriotic Soldiers” APC said the allegations by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that military funds have been diverted to finance the 2019 election campaigns of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is a sad reminder of the evil and retrogressive practices the PDP was notorious for during its defunct rule.
APC National Publicity Secretary,Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said in his reaction: “God forbid that the APC inherits and apply such morbid practice as brazenly displayed during the immediate-past PDP administration where funds allocated to fight the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast were shared among PDP leaders and their cronies.
“It is clear that the PDP and its Presidential candidate, Alh. Atiku Abubakar have decided to dance on the graves of our valiant and patriotic soldiers by politicising their deaths in the recent Boko Haram attack on the Nigerian Army Metele base.
“The PDP and Atiku are playing desperate politics where even the blood of our fallen heroes is fair game. Their actions are callous and insensitive to the families and dependants of the late soldiers and indeed our military which battles daily to ensure our territorial integrity.
He added that Nigerians see through PDP’s ploy to score political points as elections approach and it will surely backfire.
“While the APC mourns the death of our military and other security personnel who have lost their lives in the line of duty, we urge them to remain focused on the brave task of securing the nation. The President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration remains solidly committed to bringing lasting peace and security to all parts of the country and ensuring that previously displaced persons are rehabilitated to resume their normal and productive lives,” Issa-Onilu said.
