Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that henceforth, public funds would never be diverted by a ruling political party to grab power.
Osinbajo stated this at the 2016 Annual Conference of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), which was held at the Yar’adua Centre, Abuja.
He said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government recognizes the critical role of opposition parties in deepening democracy, but said they should be careful with public funds.
Osinbajo, who was represented by his special assistant on political parties, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, said the anti-corruption war being fought by the federal government was not targeted at opposition parties in the country, but aimed at bringing sanity to the polity in order to sustain democracy.
The Vice President said when the APC took over from the PDP, last year, it investigated and found out that a huge chunk of money meant for the purchase of arms, to eliminate the Boko Haram in the North-East, was diverted, hence the need for probe.
Osinbajo said investigations revealed some of the monies were diverted into private pockets, while part of it was used for campaigns by the PDP, which was in power at the time.
“Politics and elections should not be war or depletion of public resources. Never again will government agencies be used in favour of any political party to win elections.
“The war against corruption is not targeted at the opposition parties. What government is doing now is that money meant for essential services should not be diverted for campaigns or any other purposes,” he said.
