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Prominent Members of Nigeriaâs Ruling Party Seek Probe of Spending during
Ailing Presidentâs Absence

   Chinedu Offor | Washington DC 29 March 2010

   Prominent  members of Nigeriaâs ruling Peopleâs Democratic Party (PDP)
   are  asking  for  a probe of what they call the large-scale looting of
   government  funds.   They  want acting president Goodluck Jonathan to
   launch  an investigation into the disappearance of billions of dollars
   of spending bills.

   The bills were allegedly signed into law by President Umar YarâAdua on
   his   sick   bed  in  Saudi  Arabia.   But  some  PDP  officials  and
   anti-corruption groups say the president was not in a position to have
   signed  the  bills.   They  say  close  aides  of the Nigerian leader
   diverted some of the funds for private use.

   âPart  of  it  is  the  bill  of  the  president while he was in Saudi
   Arabia,â  says  Sina  Loremikan,  southwest  coordinator  of  the Zero
   Corruption Coalition.

   âThere  is an allegation that the presidential jet was at [the airport
   in Saudi Arabia] for almost two and half months and every day they pay
   in hard currency for the parking of the aircraft.â  Some believe that
   aides padded those bills and kept the extra money for themselves.

   The  situation is complicated, says Loremikan, by what he     calls
   an  internal  power  struggle  in  the  ruling party over the YarâAdua
   health   crisis,  with  some  members  looking  after  their  personal
   interest.

   âSincerely, you know they are a bunch of confused persons and they use
   every opportunity to get relevance, and perhaps [the] election is fast
   approaching  and  some of them know that voters will ask some critical
   questions, so perhaps they are doing window dressing.â

   Mr.  Jonathan  is in a very difficult position, he says, no matter how
   the probe turns out.
   âI  know  that the man is in a deep dilemma; head or tail, he will not
   find  it  easy.   If they have their way, they donât want him to even
   act  [as  president] for one second. It is due to public pressure that
   he is in office.

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