2019 polls: Atiku asks EFCC, ICPC to probe Buhari, son-in-law over alleged slush funds
- Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has called for the probe of his opponent and incumbent president, Muhammadu Buhari
- The PDP presidential candidate also accused the president's son-in-law, Junaid Abdullahi of engaging in corrupt acts
- Abdullahi is the current executive secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA)
The presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has accused President Muhammadu Buhari and his son-in-law, Junaid Abdullahi of “engaging in corruption, economic sabotage and unethical conduct by using funds creamed off fake contract awards to fund the president’s re-election campaign to the tune of about eighteen billions of naira.”
This was contained in a statement sent to Legit.ng on Tuesday, January 15 by Atiku’s special assistant on public communication, Phrank Shaibu.
According to the statement, the All Progressives Congress (APC) -controlled federal government “has been using the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) headed by Buhari’s son-in-law, Mr. Abdullahi for hundreds of phony lawmakers’ constituency projects, using non-existent firms to fund Buhari’s electioneering campaign.”
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The statement is a reaction to an investigative report published by Premium Times, detailing alleged massive fraud in the border agency.
The Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) has the mandate to provide social and infrastructural amenities to international border communities in 21 states of the federation, spanning over 105 local government areas.
Buttressing the authenticity of the report, Atiku said “no fewer than 815 contractors were recently shortlisted by the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA) for hundreds of constituency projects ranging from N10 million to 200 million worth of contracts, despite failing to meet federal contracting requirements.”
He said, “in apparent move to amass funds for President Muhammadu Buhari’s re-election bid, the BCDA procurement officials have continuously disregarded some key criteria for selection of prospective contractors, as well as some requirements for the award of contracts, in a potential violation of the Public Procurement Act (PPA) 2007.”
Atiku said the President Buhari’s anti-corruption posturing is further undermined if officials at the BCDA are allowed to go ahead with the flawed contracting process in brazen defiance of the country’s extant procurement regulations.
While challenging Buhari and his son-in-law to deny these claims, Atiku called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), to thoroughly investigate this act of corruption and economic sabotage, for its corrosive effects on the economy as well as the 2019 general elections.
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Recall that a former acting executive secretary of the BCDA, Victoria Odumosu, was two months ago, arraigned by the ICPC for alleged age falsification.
Odumosu was arraigned before a judge, Olasumbo Goodluck, of the high court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Maitama on a five-count charge bordering on “conferring corrupt advantage upon herself as a public officer in order to keep herself in public service beyond the statutory retirement age.”
She was alleged to have changed her date of birth on the agency’s nominal roll from July 6, 1956 to July 6, 1960, when she was made the head of Human Resources Department of the agency, contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.
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Source: Legit.ng