The Federal Government has released a fresh list of looters in Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), saying that the list of alleged looters which it released earlier was based on verifiable facts, including the amount involved, the date the amount in question was collected and from where it was taken.
Releasing a fresh list of alleged looters, in a statement issued on Sunday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also said those complaining that the list was too short apparently did not understand that it was strategically released as a teaser. ”At the press conference where the list was released, I did say it was a tip of the iceberg. Apparently, this does not mean anything to people whose style is to comment on issues they barely understand, or just to shoot down anything coming from the government,” he said, adding that the Federal Government has a large number of alleged looters on its list.
Alhaji Mohammed slammed the PDP for daring to challenge the Federal Government over an issue that the party knows is its weakness: Looting of public treasury.
”What was the PDP expecting when it challenged the FG to name the looters of the public treasury under the party’s watch? Did the PDP actually believe that the massive looting under its watch was a joke? Did they think it is April Fool?” he said.
The Minister said the PDP’s reaction to the looters’ list has shown that its recent apology is an election-induced act, contrived to deceive unsuspecting Nigerians to vote for the party in the 2019 general election, even when it has not come clean on its looting spree during its time in office. ”The hysterical and panicky reaction from the PDP has shown that the party is not at all sincere about its choreographed apology. Were it not the case, the party would have followed in the footsteps of one of its leaders, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, who simply owned up to his role in the party’s rigging in the past elections and said he had turned a new leaf.
”It is said that a true confession is done in humility with an attitude of repentance. It is clear that the PDP does not know this, hence its resort to hubris instead of humility and genuine penitence,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said the Federal Government will neither be intimidated nor blackmailed into silence, adding that it will also not rest until all those who looted the public treasury have been brought to justice.
