APC, PDP at war over source of bailout funds

Top members of the APC and the national leadership
of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are reportedly
divided over the sources of the N804.7 billion relief
package being considered to bail out states who
haven't paid workers salaries.
The PDP said that a very large amount of the bailout
funds came from savings left behind by the
administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan, however, the
Presidency disagreed, arguing that the money came
from proceeds of Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
(NLNG).
Upon assumption of office on May 29, President
Muhammadu Buhari said the departing PDP
government left an empty treasury and pleaded with
Nigerians for patience as they await urgent
implementation of his change agenda.
The Presidency also denied some media reports that
the presidential relief package was drawn from the
Excess Crude Accounts, ECA, stressing that the ECA
is intact. This came as state governments, the
leadership of the ruling All Progressives Congress
(APC) and some eminent Nigerians praised President
Muhammadu Buhari over the relief package, saying it
will help boost the economy.
In a statement by Chief Olisa Metuh, the National
Publicity Secretary of PDP, he said that the bailout
would go a long way in alleviating the sufferings of
Nigerian workers in various states of the federation,
most of whom haven't been paid for several months.
He said:
"This development is in clear contradiction to
the earlier impression given by President
Buhari to Nigerians and the international
community that they should not expect much
from his administration in its first 100 days
because according him, on assumption of
office, he met a virtually empty treasury.
"We want to believe that given the President's
release of such huge amount, he may have
realized that he was earlier misdirected on the
actual financial state of the nation at the time
he took over. In this regard, we expect the
President, as a respected statesman to do the
needful to correct that erroneous impression.
"Furthermore, we expect President Buhari's
APC administration as direct beneficiary of
this savings initiated by past PDP
administrations to appreciate the strategic
importance of always saving for rainy days
and as such guarantee prudent and
transparent management of the nation's
resources now under its care."
Metuh said the party therefore charged the APC as a
party in government to put its house in order, desist
from injecting confusion and distracting the President
from settling down to form a government and face
the enormous challenges of governance, especially
the implementation of his long list of campaign
promises to Nigerians.
He said Nigerians are no longer interested in insults,
tirades and propaganda but in actions and policies
that would move the nation forward, a stance the
APC has failed to recognize.

Vanguard