PDP demands transparency on N1.3 trillion coronavirus intervention fund

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday expressed concern over allegations of cor­ruption in the handling of the N1.3 trillion set aside to cushion the effects of COVID-19 on the economy.

To this end, the party has demanded ultimate transpar­ency and also that the Federal Government come clean on the source of the intervention, the specific intervention projects where the fund will apply, the level of involvement of other tiers of government and pri­vate stakeholders, as well as the mode of disbursements and monitoring.

Addressing newsmen at a press conference in Abuja, the National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, demand­ed that the COVID-19 interven­tions be allocated to the three tiers of government for effec­tive delivery and monitoring.

The party called on “all eco­nomic stakeholders, partic­ularly in the private sector, to immediately rally to articulate solutions and palliative mea­sures, since it is clear that the Buhari-led APC government is clueless and has no solution to offer”.

The PDP urged the econom­ic stakeholders to articulate ways to effectively diversify the economy and provide jobs us­ing the all-inclusive measures implemented by PDP adminis­trations to effectively grow the economy, as well as successful­ly handle emergencies such as the Ebola virus disease.

“Our party worked very hard to grow our economy and will not allow an incompetent, insensitive, and corrupt party and its administration ruin our nation,” it said.

The party alleged that the recklessness of the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC) wrecked the nation’s econ­omy, adding that President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration should be held responsible for the devaluation of the naira.

It urged the Federal Govern­ment to immediately cut down executive votes and not touch items that have direct bearings on the welfare of Nigerians.

“The Federal Government, in its plans to review the 2020 budget, should not touch items that have direct bearings on the welfare of Nigerians but imme­diately cut all over-bloated exec­utive votes as well as expunge paddings and fraudulently duplicated items, which our party initially pointed out in the budget,” the party said.