The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for investigation and prosecution of Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi over the development that led to the suspension of the embattled Managing Director of the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman.
President Muhammadu Buhari had last week, acting on the advice of Amaechi, suspended Usman over alleged non remittance of operating surplus of the agency.
The party alleged that Amaechi also has case to answer as regard the whereabout of over N165 billion funds, adding that the suspension of Usman was a ploy by the minister to cover his tracks.
Kola Ologbondiyan, the party’s spokesman in a statement on Monday, said Amaechi and Usman should be made to account for the funds.
“This is in addition to reports from the office of Auditor General which also unearthed the looting of unremitted deduction to Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) amounting to N3,667,750,470. $148,845,745.04, Euro 4,891,449.50 and £252,682.14 under the suspended NPA Managing Director and Amaechi’s ministerial supervision.
“The audit report also exposed another N15.18 billion allegedly siphoned through shady Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects by the NPA, an agency under Amaechi’s ministerial purview.
“The PDP therefore rejects the obvious attempt at a cover-up in the recourse to an Administrative Panel of Enquiry recommended by the Transport Minister to investigate the NPA fraud, in which he also has some questions to answer.
“Our party insists that both the Minister and the indicted NPA Managing Director should be handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for investigation and possible prosecution,” he noted.
