The National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in this interview alleges FG’s distribution of cash to indigent Nigerians is fraudulent
Excerpts:
Some people are already alleging corruption with government’s claims that it had shared N3bn to indigent Nigerians. Is cash disbursement the best way to share the fund?
The PDP has from the inception of the social incentive programme said that the approach of the Federal Government was ineffective, inefficient and would not reach the vulnerable group. Our position has not changed because the FG did not show or did not explain to Nigerians its approaches on social incentives.
Every effort by the Federal Government to do palliatives for the people has always been marred with controversies because its objectives are not clear and the approaches are not transparent.
For instance, within your neighbourhood , there must be poor people or the poorest of the poor. If you do a research, among those people, you will not find a single Nigerian that will tell you that or she is a beneficiary of social incentive or the palliative. And that process has been on since 2015 when President Muhammadu Buhari came into power. He set aside certain amount of money as social incentives.
Are you saying the palliatives did not get to the target group?
We find it unfortunate, and laughable that when you tell those who administer the incentive or the palliatives, to give you the names of the beneficiaries, they will hide under one cover and either claim that they do not want to expose such people or they will bring long data. What we are saying is that they are claiming they are implementing on paper, Nigerians are saying that they cannot find the beneficiaries Anybody can sit down and conjure something on paper but in physical terms or in reality, where are the people?
We are also saying that if you claim to have a process through which you have been paying Nigerians, or through which you have been reaching the vulnerable people in Nigeria, why did you suddenly abandon that process and began to display currency like wares that are meant to be sold in the market and claiming that you have been paying for two months? It is all laughable! It is rather unfortunate because Nigerians are being taken for granted by this government.
Does it mean Buhari’s government is not genuine in the implementation of the COVID-19 palliatives?
We said earlier that the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the much-hyped social intervention programmes of the All Progressives Congress and its government as a total hoax. The PDP is of the opinion that APC leaders and the cabal have been fleecing Nigerians through the social incentives program rather than deploying it to benefit the people.
We have noted the manifest failure of the much-orchestrated COVID-19 social palliatives to reach Nigerians, contrary to claims by the APC-led administration. The failure also validated allegations that the APC has been using ghost beneficiaries to siphon government resources.
Nigerians can now see how the APC-led administration has been using the names of poor Nigerians to loot our national treasury and fritter away billions of naira to finance their wasteful lifestyle while majority of our citizens wallow in hardship and abject poverty.
This explains why the APC-led administration has refused to open up on the handling of palliative funds despite huge allegations of fraud and diversion
Are you saying the distribution of cash is not a good approach?
Distribution of cash is not a good approach. It allows for corruption. A situation where Nigerians cannot even account for what is taking out and there is no probity to measure that what has been taking out has been paid to Nigerians, how can that process be credible? The process allows for corruption and that is why many Nigerians believe the money is being stolen.
Can you imagine how officials of the APC-led administration fraudulently sidestepped extant financial regulations and illegally resorted to cash disbursements, directly by a cabinet minister, instead of using Central Bank of Nigeria cash disbursement facility?
Is the swiftness at which the FG claimed it shared money not surprising? Within few days, huge amount of money had been shared?
That in itself is a clear indication that Nigerians have been denied such money and such money has ended up in the private pockets of the cabal.
The APC-led administration fraudulently sidestepped extant financial regulations and illegally resorted to cash disbursements, directly by a cabinet minister, instead of using Central Bank of Nigeria cash disbursement facility.
Such was part of the design to use few unsuspecting Nigerians to circumvent the system, muddle up financial documentations and accountability processes and facilitate the siphoning of huge chunk of the palliative fund.
The public can now see how the APC-led administration has been using the names of poor Nigerians to loot our national treasury and fritter away billions of naira to finance their wasteful lifestyle while majority of our citizens wallow in hardship and abject poverty.
This explains why the APC-led administration has refused to open up on the handling of palliative funds despite huge allegations of fraud and diversion. It also explains why the APC has failed to speak up in support of transparency and accountability in the social intervention programmes, even at this perilous time.
How do you think it can be done better?
The FG should come clear on the processes it is going to use so that we can know the truth and for certainty whether Nigerians can benefit or they will not benefit. The process as ongoing is a sham! It is designed to favour certain people in power. When last was this stipend paid to Nigerians before the sudden realisation that they want to pay two months for the beneficiaries? Who were the beneficiaries? It is all a sham! – Culled from Punch.
