From N2bn under PDP, N400bn now in anti-graft recovery account — Presidency

The Presidency yesterday night said that N400bn cash is now in the anti corruption recovery account of the Federal Government against the N2bn in the whole of PDP 16 years.

Reacting to Ms Priti Patel, former secretary of state for International Development in the United Kingdom (UK) who, in a published statement called on investors to be wary about investing in Nigeria,the Presidency said the government is winning the corruption war.

The Presidency in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu described Patel’s claim as a wicked proposition.

“This wicked proposition is lacking in substance and devoid of merit in empirical evidence established by facts. Her claim to the effect that despite the President’s public anticorruption platform, Nigeria has not seen any reduction in corruption since Buhari took office, trumpeting a so-called Transparency International report is a false fabrication that cannot be supported by the facts on the ground.

“By the time President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in and took office, the only amount in the anti corruption recovery account over 16 years of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was only N2bn.

This account has succeeded in netting over N400bn as of today, translating to 1,360 percent increase. This cannot amount to nothing in terms of progress.

When it comes to Policy decisions, this government has put in place instruments that have extraordinarily and unprecedentedly reduced corruption and corrupt practices. For example, the Treasury Single Account, TSA has led to greater visibility and control of government funds by way of consolidating government resources in an account as against the where such accounts scattered,” he said.

He said the Bank Verification Number, BVN scheme has equally helped the government to prevent money laundering,financing terrorism and illicit cash transfers.

“This administration has introduced the IPPS, which implementation has led to an extraordinary reduction of ghost workers, saving the treasury billions of Naira every month.” past are