The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the suspended Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman over the alleged looting of over N165 billion in the agency while also demanding immediate investigation and prosecution.
In a statement on Monday by the spokesman for the PDP, Kola Ologbondiyan, the party deplored what it described as the foul stench of corruption oozing out of the NPA, NDDC and other agencies of government in the last six years.
The PDP said recent revelation of sleaze in the two agencies has shown the MDAs have become the cash cows and Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of greedy leaders in the present administration.
The party asserted the fact that it took the Minister five years (2016 to 2021) to query the NPA Managing Director over the alleged looting of N165 billion unremitted operating surplus of the agency, has raised public belief that he (Amaechi) only acted apparently to shied himself after indicting audit documents had already been exposed.
The PDP said: “This is in addition to reports from the office of Auditor General which also unearthed the looting of unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and £252,682.14 under the suspended NPA Managing Director and Amaechi’s ministerial supervision.
“The audit report also exposed another N15.18 billion allegedly siphoned through shady Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects by the NPA, an agency under Amaechi’s ministerial purview.
“The PDP therefore rejects the obvious attempt at a cover-up in the recourse to an Administrative Panel of Enquiry recommended by the Transport Minister to investigate the NPA fraud, in which he also has some questions to answer.
“Our party insists that both the Minister and the indicted NPA Managing Director should be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and possible prosecution.”