…Says Buhari must be held responsible to the rising cases of Corruption

…Says APC Senators Frustrated Overiding Buhari’s Veto on Electoral Act

…Says it is ridiculous to say that Atiku travelled to the US as his aide

…As Marafa disagrees with Saraki over N2.4bn fuel subsidy

By Henry Umoru

SENATE President, Dr. Bukola Saraki yesterday raised the alarm that corruption was increasing now in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari  with the government paying higher on fuel subsidy where Nigeria is said to be consuming 50 million litres, with N2.4 billion spent so far by the federal government on fuel subsidy.

*Senate President Bukola Saraki and President Muhammadu Buhari

According to Saraki, the present acclaimed level of consumption by the government was higher than that of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s government where it was said that 30 million litres was Litres was consumed per day, yet it was claimed that his government was corrupt.

Speaking yesterday when he appeared on AIT ‘s Kakaaki, the Senate President who doubles as the Director- General, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Presidential Council, warned that the Federal government cannot fight corruption with corruption, just as he condemned the present trial of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen by the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT.

Saraki said, “It is shocking and alarming that the current administration in the country claimed that Nigerians are consuming 50million litres of fuel every day and for two years, they did it without appropriation. Today, the government says we consume 50 million litres. That is not possible. Jonathan’s government said it was 30 million litres per day and we said his government was corrupt. Why are we not doing the same?

“We have met a stone wall on this issue in the Senate. We have set up panels to look at these issues. We have done our part to raise the issue. When you talk about integrity, you can’t allow this fraud about subsidy to continue.

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“Subsidy on its own is not a fraud if well managed. The president is the head of the government. If his government is not doing the right thing, we should not make excuses for him. Jonathan did the same thing and we said he was corrupt.

“What type of integrity are we talking about when a government claims to have been spending N2.4 bn. We have the (Senator Kabir) Marafa committee set up to look into it but we have always met a brickwall.

“For two years, we made several cases to the executive that the subsidy claims must be presented for appropriation because we cannot continue to rely on the arguments by the executive was only spending money on under recovery.

“We have set up a panel to look into it but its activities are being frustrated because we have a government where its executive does not believe that it is accountable to the National Assembly.

“We have done our part to raise it and to do as much as possible to expose what is going on. The way subsidy is being managed now at 50million a day, is fraud. It’s not possible.

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Saraki who also lampooned those who said that the former Vice President and Presidential Candidate of the PDP traveled to the United States of America, USA recently as one of his aides, however described such insinuations as ridiculous and desperate responses, adding that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC is synonymous with lies and propaganda.

He said, “These are desperate responses. To say that Atiku travelled as my aide is ridiculous. They know it’s ridiculous and that is why they are finding it hard to campaign to Nigerians. It’s just propaganda. They have nothing to campaign with.

“They said our candidate could not go to America. It was important to settle that matter. The other party said they can’t have a president who can’t travel to America. Atiku went to America on his own merit.”

The Senate President who wax optimistic that the PDP will win next month’s Presidential election, said, “I believe that our candidate will win. You can see that from every part of the country we have been to. There are security challenges in every part of the country. A large number of youth population is unemployed. We have the capacity to address these issues. Our candidate can address these issues.

“If you look at the analysis, there is no pathway of success for the APC. In 2015, APC won by 75 per cent in the North West. They can’t get that. In the North East, the APC got 80 per cent in 2015. That will not happen. The turnout we are seeing now, we could not see that in the PDP in 2015.

“Our statistics is showing us that we are doing well in the strongholds of APC, especially the North West. If you put our candidate side by side with the current president, you will know who can get the country working again. We will address the economy and other critical sectors of the economy.

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“We will open the space for the privilege sector. Our candidate will do that. Our candidate has a firm knowledge of how the economy works.”

On Atiku’s absence during the debate, Saraki said, “Having a debate was just one aspect. From day one, we made it clear that we wanted to engage with the president. To be fair, this is a two race thing. Upon our arrival from the United States, we were told that the president will be present at the debate venue. But he didn’t show up.”

On the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC ahead of the elections, the Senate President said, “I am prepared to give INEC the benefit of the doubt. I was clear that the former IGP was a danger to our democracy. I think INEC has people with integrity. My view is for us to ensure that we have a free and fair election. There are people who believe that INEC is biased. They need to do something to show us who still believe in them that they are serious.

“They need to give us a free and fair election. They must remain unbiased. I believe that we should work with INEC. When we raise any issues, INEC must listen. From my experience, when you do accreditation and voting at the same time, you give room for a lot of abuses of the process.

“The other issue is the transmission of election results. The results to be transmitted must be made known to everyone. ”

Speaking on why the Senate did not override the President’s veto on the Electoral Amendment Bill, the Senate President said, “We realised that we didn’t have the number to do that. People had already taken positions along party lines. There is an election and people didn’t want to go against their party or the president. But I think that the president should have signed the bill. Election is about choices. It’s also a referendum. The choice we will make next month will be about who has the capacity to run the affairs of this country. Integrity matters.”

Meanwhile, in a swift reaction to Saraki on the amount spent by the Federal government on Fuel Subsidy, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Senator Kabir Marafa who noted that Nigeria was not paying up to N2.4bn to subsidise fuel daily in Nigeria, however disagreed with the senate president and insisted that findings by his committee revealed that Nigerians are not consuming more than 30 million of litres of fuel per day.

Speaking with Journalists yesterday in Abuja, Marafa who noted that it was not possible for the nation to spend up to N2.4bn ever day to subsidise fuel, said, “It is not possible to spend N2.4bn on subsidy in Nigeria every day. Even though we don’t have the exact figure but it ranges between 25 to 35 million per day, depending on the circumstances.

“Even if we are selling 30 million litres per day at N145 per litre, it will amount to N4.3bn. If you say that government is subsidizing by N2.4bn, are we saying that government is selling at half of the amount?

“The landing cost of PMS (Petrol) is N180 that means government is subsidizing maximum N40 naira per litre. If you multiply that with 30 million litres, it cannot be up to N2.4bn.

“I don’t want to join issues with the Senate President. I don’t know the particular committee he mandated to carry out his investigations but if he said so, it must be for the purpose of winnining elections.

“From the records at my disposal, Nigeria is not consuming 5o million litres per day. It is not possible. Even if the nation is paying subsidy at all, it is being taken from the running cost of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”