Respond Directly to Corruption Allegations: ACN Challenges Doyin Okupe, Presidency and PDP

The Action Congress of Nigeria has challenged the People’s Democratic Party and the Presidency to respond directly to allegations that the Senior Specal Assistant to the President Dr Doyin Okupe and one of his companies obtained contracts from Imo and Benue states, collected hefty mobilisation fees running into several hundred millions of naira and bolted away.

In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed the party said that rather than respond directly to the the damaging allegation of corruption against Dr Doyin Okupe the People’s Democratic Party and it’s hired guns masquerading as public affairs commentators and analysts have chosen to play the ostrich.

Their only defence so far is that the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly should also be asked to resign and that the Action Congress of Nigeria lacks the moral authority to raise the issue of corruption against Dr Doyin Okupe because according to them the party is full of cheats and liars. This is nothing but a deliberate attempt to obfuscate issues and a case of comparing apples with oranges the party said.

For the avoidance of doubt the Lagos State Speaker Adeyemi Ikuforiji has been charged before a court of law. He has pleaded not guilty. The law presumes him innocent until proven guilty. The case is still on ongoing therefore any call for his resignation is an attempt to stampede justice.

However the case of Doyin Okupe is completely different. He has been confronted with allegations that he has swindled both Imo and Benue state governments of hundreds of millions of naira . He cannot continue to be the President’s spokesman until he clears himself these allegations,the party insisted.

On the unsubstantiated and laughable allegations that the Action Congress of Nigeia is a party of crooks and cheats and as such lacks the moral authority to ask for the resignation of Dr Doyin Okupe in the face of mounting allegations of corruption against him, we make bold to say that if the PDP can summon courage to look at itself in the mirror what will stare back at it is nothing but corruption in its most unadulterated form.

According to the Action Congress of Nigeria, the People’s Democratic Party has in the last thirteen years infected Nigeria so massively with the most dangerous virus of corruption that Nigeria today is ranked one of the most corrupt nations in the world.

It reminded Nigerians that in the National Assembly alone between 1999 and today three presidents of the Senate and three Speakers of the House of Representatives have been consumed by corruption all of them members of the People Democratic Party, PDP. Two former chairmen of the PDP were forced out on account of allegations of corruption, a third was the chairman of the PPRA whose inglorious role in the fuel subsidy scam is subject of investigation and yet two sons of PDP chairmen are facing corruption charges as a result of their involvement in the same fuel subsidy scam. Twelve former governors of the PDP are today before various courts on corruption charges. At least six former PDP ministers are still facing corruption charges. It is on record that a PDP President openly accused his Vice President of corruption and attempted to strip him of his office while a PDP federal legislator died in jail while awaiting trial. We can go on ad infinitum.

The PDP locust years according to the Action Congress of Nigeria has also incubated and hatched mind gobbling scams, scandals and bribery allegations such as the Siemens, Wilbros, PTDF, NIPP, Police Equipment Fund, the Halliburton, the muti-billion naira pension scam, the oil subsidy scam, the Malabu Oil scandal to mention but a few.
It therefore does not lie in the mouth of a morally challenged party like the PDP to accuse the ACN of being morally bankrupt. In the department of probity and morality the Action Congress of Nigeia is miles ahead of the Peoplels Democratic Party.

No amount of shadow boxing,bluster or vitriolic by the PDP and it’s mercenaries therefore will change the facts as they stand which is that Dr Doyin Okupe is alleged to have collected hundreds of millions of naira for work not done and he must be fired and the law must take it’s course the party concluded.