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APC, PDP bicker over alleged plot to empty treasury for polls

By Adamu Abuh (Abuja), Innocent Anoruo (Lagos) and Julius Osahon (Yenagoa)
21 October 2019   |   4:13 am
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Seriake Dickson of trying to empty Bayelsa State’s treasury to prosecute the November 16 governorship campaign.

[FILE PHOTO] National publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress.

Party berates Oshiomhole over arms stockpile claim
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused Governor Seriake Dickson of trying to empty Bayelsa State’s treasury to prosecute the November 16 governorship campaign.

APC’s Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Yekini Nabena, in a statement, claimed that the governor had illegally withdrawn N17.5 billion from the state’s till for campaign purposes.

He, there, called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to temporarily freeze the state’s account in the interest of Bayelsans.

The party particularly called for the arrest of the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Maxwell Ebibai, who allegedly oversaw the illegal transactions.

It noted, “In the last two weeks, the Bayelsa State government has, in highly suspicious circumstances, made several withdrawals to the tune of N17.5 billion without any corresponding project to justify them.

“Insider reports we received have it that Governor Dickson approved the illegal withdrawals to fund the election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the state.”

APC claimed that some of the cash were stashed in the governor’s Toru-Orua country home, while the commissioner for finance laundered others through the Bayelsa Development and Investment Corporation (BDIC).

The Guardian’s effort to reach the Bayelsa Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, or that of Finance, Maxwell Ibibai, to comment on the allegation proved abortive at press time.

But an official in the accountant-general’s office, who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told our correspondent that the allegation was part of APC’s usual propaganda.

According to him, there is not such withdrawal from the state’s treasury, as the Dickson’s administration is focused on giving Bayelsans the best with the state’s available resources.

He added that Nabena, who issued the statement, “is an Abuja politician who is not in tune with the happenings back home in Bayelsa.”

Meanwhile, the PDP has berated the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, for making wild claims about arms stockpile for the election.

The state chairman of PDP, Moses Cleopas, stated yesterday that Oshiomhole and other APC leaders were making the wild allegations to justify their plot to deploy soldiers to rig the election.

Cleopas said that Bayelsans would resist any attempt by the APC to deploy soldiers to rig the gubernatorial election as they did in the last National Assembly election in the state, which led to the death of innocent residents.

The PDP chairman called on Nigerians to ignore APC’s allegations, which, according to him, were inspired by the party’s desperation to cause mischief.

He stressed that Bayelsans and Nigerians were aware that the APC in Bayelsa was peopled by militants with a sickening penchant for violence.

The botched attempt to kidnap and behead the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Mr. Kola Okunola, by APC militia in Brass for refusing to rig election in February showed clearly that APC’s politics in Bayelsa is anchored on violence, he alleged.

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