– Ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, dismisses reported claims by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that the immediate past administration carried out grand corruption
– Jonathan says the total amount of money borrowed in the entire 16 years that the PDP governed Nigeria was N8.06trn
– The former president claims the APC-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has borrowed a total of N10trn in just three years
Ex-president, Goodluck Jonathan, has asked Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to face his alleged indictment by the House of Representatives in what he termed one of the biggest corruption scams ever in Nigeria’s history rather than accusing the immediate past administration of dragging Nigeria into debt.
Speaking in a statement through one of his aides, Reno Omokri, the former president dismissed an earlier statement credited to Osinbajo where the vice president was reported to have accused the immediate past administration of carrying out grand corruption, Vanguard reports.
“How can Vice President Osinbajo, a man who had just been indicted by the House of Representatives in one of the biggest corruption scams ever in Nigeria’s history, have the gall to point accusing fingers on Dr. Jonathan, a man that is celebrated internationally for his efforts at achieving Nigeria’s best rating in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Rating when Nigeria improved 8 paces from 144 to 136 in 2014?
“Having read through the sordid details of Professor Osinbajo’s corruption as revealed in the indictment by Nigeria’s House of Representatives, it is easy to understand why Nigeria made her worst ever retrogression in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception under him this year, moving 11 paces backwards from 136 to 148,” Jonathan’s aide stated.
The statement further clarified that the total amount of money borrowed in the entire 16 years that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governed Nigeria was N8.06 trillion
It questioned the moral authority of Osinbajo to point fingers at former president Jonathan when the the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had allegedly borrowed a total of N10 trillion in just three years.
The statement said the reason that Nigeria’s debt has increased under the current administration was because the federal government lacks the discipline that Jonathan displayed in restraining borrowing by both federal and state governments.
The statement read in part: “Throughout the five years that he was President, former President Jonathan incurred the wrath of several state governments because his administration refused to guarantee their foreign loans.
‘’The reason that Nigeria’s debt has ballooned under this administration is because the Federal Government lacks the discipline that Jonathan had and are thus unable to curb borrowing by both the Federal Government and the states.”
‘’For example, on Tuesday November 13, 2018, the Debt Management Office revealed that in just 2017 alone, the Buhari administration borrowed 2.4 trillion to fund their budget deficit.
‘’This is besides other loans that they took in 2017 alone. That money is more than the funds borrowed by the Jonathan administration in five years. “To show to Nigerians the profligacy and ineptitude of the current administration, I draw their attention to the fact that between July and August 2018, the Buhari administration claimed it had shared $322 million Abacha funds recovered by the Jonathan administration to the poor.
‘’Then a week after it made that announcement, the Buhari government borrowed $328 million from China.
“The question is this, why would you share out $322 million one week only to borrow the same amount next week? Why not use the Abacha funds to fund government activities instead of adding to the already strained debt burden? ‘’These are questions that Vice President Osinbajo should answer rather than making false allegations against former President Jonathan.’’
TRACK NEWS earlier reported that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had accused the Goodluck Jonathan administration of carrying out grand corruption with impunity during its tenure.
Osinbajo made the accusation on Monday, November 12, when delivering the 40th anniversary lecture of the Association of Friends in Lagos, The Punch reports.
Citing instances of alleged corruption that took place under the previous administration, the vice president said in one day $292m (about N70bn) was moved out from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), without any contract or any real explanation.
