APC Has Destroyed EFCC, ICPC’s Independence, PDP Claims

The independence of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been ruined by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in making this allegation, equally claimed that the APC has, in just two years, destroyed the autonomy of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC).

According to the PDP, the APC-led government destroyed the anti-corruption agencies with its “approach of using ‘deodorants’ when APC members are involved” in corruption and ‘insecticides’ for PDP members.

The opposition party said this while marking its 19th anniversary as the country’s “topmost” political party.

“The PDP formally came into being on the 31st of August, 1998, and has since then, remained the only viable, prosperous, strongest and most visionary political party in Nigeria,” said the party in a statement signed by its head of publicity division, Chinwe Nnorom.

“The PDP administration established two major anti-corruption agencies, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to curb the menace of corruption in the country.

“These efforts reduced corrupt practices and further increased the confidence of foreign investors that resulted in huge investment inflows into the country.

“The APC-led government of today has destroyed the independence of these agencies with their selective approach of using ‘deodorants’ when APC members are involved and ‘insecticides’ when it concerns the PDP members and other Nigerians.

“Nigeria as a country is today celebrating close to two decades of uninterrupted civilian rule because of the sacrifices and investments made by the founding fathers of the PDP. We are proud of them and their legacies will be immortalized in the anal of Nigerian history.

“We also thank the people of Nigeria for the overwhelming support and confidence reposed on us in our sixteen years of administration. As a human organization, there might have been some issues or areas we could not cover when we were governing. We promise to make amends as when given the opportunity again in 2019.

“As we celebrate the Nineteen Years of the PDP today, we are proud of the huge achievements of successive PDP administrations which are too numerous to mention. We therefore call on all our members, supporters and indeed all Nigerians to continue believing in the PDP.

“We wish to further emphasize that the PDP remains the only tried, tested and reliable party in Nigeria.

“For the record, in 1999 the Image of Nigeria internationally was in a deplorable state with very poor human rights records.The PDP took conscious steps to change that perception and within a very short period, it restored the country to its pride of place among the comity of nations. We promise to do it again come 2019.”