Auditor-general, U.S. reports belie Buhari’s saintly posture, says Frank

Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, has applauded the office of the Auditor General of the Federation and the United States Department of State on their latest reports allegedly indicting the presidency and the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of absence of openness and transparency in their affairs.

In a statement, he claimed that the reports had exposed the fact that no significant progress had been recorded by President Muhammadu Buhari in the area of fiscal transparency.Frank maintained that most Nigerians were beginning to “see with regret how the current administration is dancing naked by swimming in corruption both nationally and internationally.”

The recent document by the American nation had accused the Nigerian government of lacking transparency while listing the country as one of those that did not meet the minimum requirements for fiscal openness. Frank, while commending the revelation by the U.S. government, said “it is not surprising because every lie has an expiring date, hence the embarrassing report.”

He alleged that the APC-led administration had been concocting and disseminating lies about increased revenue generation to the tune of N5.3 trillion in 2018 alone but “that lie has now expired as can be deduced from a leaked memo signed by the Chief of Staff (COS) to the President, Abba Kyari, querying the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babatunde Fowler, about humongous shortfalls and discrepancies in projected revenue.”

The politician described the Buhari presidency as the “most corrupt in the history of governance in Nigeria.”He said: “It is becoming clearer to Nigerians and the whole world how lies were packaged and sold to Nigerians by the assembly of corrupt individuals in the ruling party.“They came in the name of fighting corruption but the majority of their officials are confirmed public treasury looters. In fact, the only criterion to get appointment in the APC government is for someone to have a record of looting, certificate forgery, thuggery and violence.”

The Bayelsa indigene added: “During the last general elections, a leader of this government was caught with three bullion vans in his compound allegedly from the Central Bank of Nigeria but up till now, the anti-corruption agencies play blind.“The Buhari-led administration overlooks corrupt officials and those engaging in acts of corruption within its ranks. They are, however, swift footed in going after members of the opposition over, sometimes, imaginary corruption allegations. In a matter of days, more of their lies will again expire.”

He claimed that the recent appointment of ministers was scandalous, as “80 per cent of those who made the list have corruption cases against them in court. “But President Buhari decided to reward them with political appointments. This shows that the Nigerian leader lacks integrity and moral standing to talk about corruption because he himself is supervising the most corrupt administration in the history of Nigeria.”