Presidency to PDP: Bail-out money is not from Jonathan’s savings; It is – PDP insists

The Presidency has decried what it described as attempts by agents of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to ‘create an unnecessary controversy’ over the recent bail-out funds disbursed to states of the federation to enable them pay salaries of public sector workers.
In a statement, Wednesday, by Mr. Femi Adesina, the Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), the Presidency maintained that the gesture was a ‘ the well-intentioned effort by President Muhammadu Buhari to give some relief to state governments and long-suffering public sector workers.
“We also reject the banal and ludicrous demand by the PDP Spokesman, Olisa Metuh that the PDP Government which was ousted by Nigerians at the last general elections for running the country aground,  be given some credit for “saving” the funds that were disbursed as part of the intervention package approved by President Buhari.
“Mr. Metuh’s claim that a significant amount of the funds came from savings accumulated in the Excess Crude Account and handed over to the Buhari Administration is completely false and deliberately intended to mislead the public,” said the statement by Adesina.
In a swift reaction, however, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, insisted that the $2.1 billion Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) component of the bailout for states was actually saved by the immediate past
President Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration.
According to the Presidency, the funds approved by President Buhari for sharing to the three tiers of government last Monday came entirely from dividends and taxes paid to the Federation Account by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG), not from the Excess Crude Account.
“The disbursed NLNG dividends and taxes were paid into the Federation Account in June this year and confirmed by the Central Bank’s Statement to the Federal Government on July 7, 2015. The funds cannot therefore be considered “savings” by the Jonathan Administration which left office in May, 2015, as disingenuously claimed by Mr. Metuh.
“Instead of being repeatedly impugned and castigated by the PDP and its agents for honestly telling Nigerians that the nation’s treasury  has been immensely depleted and its resources looted or squandered under previous administrations, President Buhari should be commended for the openness, transparency and accountability which he has now  brought to the management of national funds,” Adesina explained.
Continuing, the Presidency insisted that it was in keeping with that disposition, that the President promptly disclosed the accrual of the NLNG dividends and taxes to the Federation Account at his recent meeting with State Governors and approved the convening of a special session of the FAAC to share it.
“As a state governor who was present at the meeting remarked, under past administrations, the states never had the benefit of such disclosures.
“Mr. Metuh and others who now ungratefully see Monday’s disbursement of the NLNG proceeds as their  “legitimate” earnings  and not a “bailout” from the Federal Government may wish to tell Nigerians if such earnings were ever disclosed by the PDP Federal Government and paid to the states in the past.
“The public may also wish to note that the Buhari Administration itself has never referred to the actions which it has taken to ease the current financial difficulties of states as a ‘bailout’, Adesina stressed.
In its statement, the PDP said that “in actual fact the LNG dividend stood at $5.6 billion even before the handover date of May 29th and would have been shared but for the insistence of former President Goodluck Jonathan that it be left for the incoming administration to manage.”
The PDP statement, which thanked President Muhammadu Buhari for making it possible for Nigerians to know that monies were left behind by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, stressing that “despite attempts by the APC-led administration to hide the truth, the issuance of the bailout with funds from the LNG proceeds and the Excess Crude Account (ECA) has exposed the fact that the PDP administration actually left behind huge sums of money, contrary to the impression earlier given to Nigerians and the international community that the new administration met a virtually empty treasury.
“It is gratifying to note that gradually the evidence of monies left behind by the PDP-led administration is coming to public light despite effort by the new government to hide the facts.
“The public had been made aware that $2 billion was left in the ECA for which the Accountant –General and the APC confirmed approvals for the withdrawal of $1.7 billion.
“We know that surely, though slowly, a lot of other monies saved by the PDP and which are now under the control of the APC government will eventually be unveiled by this administration themselves and without any
effort on our part whatsoever.”
The PDP said it believes that President Buhari must have realized that he was earlier misdirected on the actual state of the nation’s finances and should as a respected statesman apologize to his predecessor, President Goodluck Jonathan who also ensured that he handed over to him a peaceful and stable environment to operate.
The party said “President Buhari as a leader on whose shoulders lies the mandate of the Nigerian people and the burden of governance for the next four years should strive to disentangle himself from the intrigues, propaganda, blackmail and machinations of some leaders in his party and focus on delivering on his campaign promises for which he was elected.”
The PDP also urged the APC as a party in power to rise above board and endeavor to be honest in its dealings, especially if it wants Nigerians to take it seriously. It said a situation where a ruling party will resort to a dishonorable act of altering a statement where it earlier acknowledged the approval for the withdrawal from the ECA, just to hide the truth, leaves much to be desired.

The PDP also said that it wanted the public “to note that all our statements and engagements have been based on facts and issues. Consequently, we urge the Presidency to focus on issues and stop trending on personal insults,
threats and abuses.”