The All Progressives Congress (APC) recenty alleged that it had stumbled on a document indicating that President Goodluck Jonathan had disbursed N2 billion each to 16 states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed stated this in Ilorin during a media parliament organised by the Kwara State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ). Mohammed, who said the party would take up the matter, alleged that the idea was to starve the APC states of their statutory allocations and secretly fund states that are in support of his re-election bid. SEE MORE AFTER CUT>>>>>
He also spoke on the controversy over the 2014 budget benchmark between the President and the National Assembly, alleging that the President deliberately pegged the 2014 budget at $74 per barrel to starve APC states of funds and clandestinely fund PDP states from the Excess Crude Account (ECA).
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According to him, the action portrayed the President as a sectional President. He warned that money accrued to the federation account is meant for the benefit of all Nigerians and not for the President to spend on his perceived allies and sympathizers.
“We are in possession of a document that Mr. President has given N2bn each to 16 states and of these 16 states, not one of them is an APC state. The idea is to starve the APC states of their constitutional entitlements and then secretly fund states that are perceived to be sympathetic to him. This is a matter we will take up and the National Assembly will look into the truth of the matter. But I think the matter should be thrown into the court of public opinion”, he said.
The APC spokesman also said that while a barrel of crude oil sells for $110, the President pegged the 2014 budget at $74 in order to divert the balance of $44 into the ECA which he could withdraw at will to strengthen states that are in support of his re-election bid.
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