The Conference of Northern States Civil Society Network has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently address Nigerians in a national broadcast over alleged stamp duty fraud worth N89 trillion.
It said, there was an alleged undercover committee set up to investigate and recover the accumulated stamp duty money by the President which it called on the President to address Nigerians in the interest of public trust and transparency.
In an open letter addressed to the President and made available to newsmen in Gombe through the Network’s Coordinator in Gombe, Ibrahim Yusuf, the CSO’s drew the attention of President Buhari on the trending issue which it said Nigerians are worried about.
It stated that the trending issue regarding the committee supposedly set up covertly under his hands to investigate the alleged stamp duty fraud worth N89 trillion must not be left under the carpet.
The letter reads: “Nigerians are worried about the purported humongous sum of money said to have been manipulated by some few individuals while we continue to pass and sign into law appropriation bills with huge deficits and whose implementation largely depends on burrowing.We feel uneasy on the increasing Nigerian debt profile and wonder how our nation shall magically plan to survive with these humongous deficits in our national budgets.
“Sir, Hon Muhammad Gudaje Kazaure, a member of the national assembly representing Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa and Yankwashi Federal Constituency in Jigawa State had on several platforms claimed that you had set up the undercover presidential committee headed by one Mr Adetola Adekoya to investigate the long accumulated stamp duty revenues.
“In our humble opinion, it will be a major disservice to the nation if you as the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria continue to remain silent on this sensitive national issue which has not only captured the attention of all Nigerians but also the International Community.
“The magnitude of the most recent trending issue deserves nothing less than a live national broadcast to address Nigerians on the status of the said committee and the humongous sum of money said to have been stashed in some Nigerian commercial banks.
“Your Excellency, one of the most painful and derogatory remarks in the entire hullabaloo is that ‘Nigeria is a country where Government burrows Government money and pays interest to cabals’.
“This assertion is not only too sensitive to capture your attention, as some Government officials were fingered in the alleged mess, as well as to save the integrity of our dear country which is currently at stake”, the letter which was signed by 19 Northern State Coordinators and Abuja stated.