News Editor (Ag), Stanley Onyekwere 2023: PDP tasks Buhari on free, fair, credible elections

By Lateef Ibrahim, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put every measure in place to guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections.

The PDP equally urged the President to assuage the pain and anguish being experienced by Nigerians over the current cash crunch in the country by demanding that leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) including its Presidential Candidate and governors immediately release the hundreds of billions of new Naira notes reportedly intercepted and hoarded by them for vote buying purposes.

The party said these in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba in Abuja.

The PDP said that it sympathized

•Compel APC leaders to release hoarded naira notes

with Nigerians over the pain, torture and distress brought upon the nation’s citizens by the selfish, vicious and antipeople APC leaders.

The party said saluted the resilience of Nigerians in the face of APC-induced suffering.

According to the statement, “It is instructive to note that Mr. President in his address to the nation earlier today, (yesterday) acknowledged that the Naira redesign and swap policies are programmes of the APC administration which is also completely in control of the production and circulation of the new notes. It is therefore clear that the PDP has no part in the entire process.

“Our Party had earlier alerted on how APC leaders allegedly sabotaged the system and diverted the new Naira notes so as to create widespread social unrest to justify their plan to derail the

2023 general elections and truncate our democracy.

“The PDP had also exposed how APC governors are allegedly warehousing the new Naira notes in facilities in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo and other States of the country for the purpose of vote buying in the Presidential election.

“In the same vein, our Party raised alarm on how the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign had orchestrated the current cash crunch as a strategy to cause crisis while inciting Nigerians to insurrection with the view to truncating the electoral process having come to the reality of the fact that the APC and its Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been rejected by Nigerians ahead of the polls.

“Our Party sympathizes with Nigerians over the pain, torture and distress brought upon our citizens by the selfish, vicious and anti-people APC leaders. The PDP again salutes the resilience of Nigerians in the face of APC-induced suffering.

“The APC and its Presidential Candidate must come to terms with the fact that Nigerians are determined to vote in the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, come February 25, 2023. The threats and incitement to violence by the Tinubu Campaign cannot deter the people.

“The PDP calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to put every measure in place to guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections as Nigerians are ready to go to the polls in their determination to vote in Atiku Abubakar as the next President of our country”, it said.

EFCC arraigns Ex-Administrator, Accountant of Adamawa-German Medical Centre over alleged N51.1m fraud

From Umar Dankano,

Yola.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the former Administrator and former Accountant of the Adamawa state German Medical Centre, Hajiya Fadimatu Sani Yakubu and Ibrahim Sani Husseini before High Court Yola over alleged misappropriation of Fifty-one million, one hundred and sixty-eight thousand, three and sixty-eight Naira (N51,168,368.00).

In a suit with case no. HC/ ADST/118/C/2022 the duo were arraigned for Ten (10) count charges of criminal breach of trust by public servants contrary to section 306 of the Penal code, laws of Adamawa state.

The duo was alleged to have been using fake receipts bearing Gabbyto Pharmacy Ltd cash/credit invoices and that of one company named G & G Venture to defraud the hospital (Adamawa-German medical centre) for their personal selfish interests.

At a hearing Thursday, before the court presided over by Justice Danladi Muhammad the EFCC legal counsel,Barrister A.M Labaran told the court that the accused persons conspired and committed the alleged offences sometimes between January and December 2018 while holding sway as administrator and Accountant at the centre.

Barrister Lawan while leading the prosecution witnesses in testimony tendered four receipts where the owner of the Gabbyto Pharmacy Ltd. Mr. Gabriel Okwuma was ordered to compare the original and fake receipts and explain to the court the identity of his authentic receipts and invoices which he did by saying his company’s receipt has only 4 digits while the fake one has 6-8 digits on it.

Also in his testimony the second witness in the case, Mr. Cosmas Anene of Cosmamaco Investment Nigeria told the court the name G & G ventures given as his company was not correct stressing that his firm supplies car batteries and not pharmaceutical items.

Barrister Lawan asked the court to admit and mark those receipts as exhibits A to D which would be used as evidence in the future hearing (trial proceedings).

On his part the Defence counsel, Barrister Salihu Adamu also led the two witnesses docked by clarifying relevant information about their businesses, receipts and contractual engagements with the Adamawa German Hospital in which Mr. Gabriel of Gabby to pharmacy confirmed that his company has business engagements .

The second witness, Mr. Anene denied in categorical terms Of any business relationship between his company and the Adamawa German medical centre as tendered by the Prosecution.

After exhausting the testimonies of the witnesses by the prosecution and defence counsels, the court adjourned the case to the 1st of March 2023 for continuation of proceedings.