The Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the embezzlement allegation of N90 billion made on Vice President (VP) Yemi Osinbajo by the former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Timi Frank.
Its Executive Director Comrade Dr. Ibrahim M. Zikirullahi, in a signed petition to its Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu, which was made available to Journalists during a media conference yesterday in Abuja said investigation into the matter will help verify whether the accusation is true or false.
Zikirullahi, stressed in the petition that addressing this recent development would have far-reaching implications on the legitimacy of the current administration, and by extension, the confidence of the ordinary citizens in the anti-corruption campaign.
He said, “There has been a wave of very disturbing allegations making the rounds, and authored by one Comrade Timi Frank, a former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the APC to the effect that His Excellency, the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), GCON caused the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to release to him public funds to the tune of Ninety Billion Naira (N90,000,000,000.00), without appropriation, and allegedly without following laid down procedures for handling public funds.
“In a statement widely circulated in the media on September 23, 2019, the said Timi Frank further claimed that the alleged N90 billion was used by the Vice President to prosecute the 2019 Presidential election in some states on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“If the Vice President is culpable as these allegations claim, then he should be made to face the consequences of such culpability. However, if the claimant, Timi Frank making the allegations is found to be deceiving the public, we demand that appropriate steps should be taken to hold him to account in line with the rule of law,” he stressed.
The ED noted the negative impact of corruption on the security and stability of Nigeria, and the avowed commitment of the current administration to fight corruption in all its manifestations.
“For us at CHRICED, these allegations are very weighty and worrisome, especially against the background that in the build up to the 2019 elections, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR made it clear that public funds would not be approved for the purpose of political campaigns.
“Specifically on January 9, 2019, the President in a statement through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Shehu Garba said: “As political parties spread their ideologies and views to every nook and cranny of the country, the issue of cash payment to voters and its corrupting influence in electioneering has once again become a topical issue.
“Try and use text and multi-media messages to seek votes for the party and government. There is no money from the treasury for use in the campaigns. I will not authorise that,” he recalled.
He said further that the claims by Timi Frank are implying that the ruling party did not adhere to the directives of the President on his proclaimed non-use of public funds to prosecute the election in favour of the ruling party.
He also maintained that if the allegations are proven to be true, it would also mean that the campaign finance legislation governing the electoral process, as enshrined in the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) has been flagrantly violated.
“As a former Deputy Publicity Secretary of the ruling party, APC, with the benefit of wide contacts in the seat of power, Timi Frank could as well be privy to information, which the rest of us may not know. As such, only a meticulous investigation of these claims will bring the truth to life.
CHRICED, is a registered Non Governmental Organisation (NGO) working for the realisation of democratic, accountable and corruption-free governance in Nigeria.CHRICED envisions, and mobilises citizens towards the realisation of a polity in which participation, inclusion and action result in good governance and the entrenchment of the right values in public office.
