Forensic auditors will probe alleged corruption if PPP loses- AFC’s Nigel Hughes

Last Updated on Sunday, 29 September 2024, 22:13 by Writer

Leader of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes on Sunday said if the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) loses next year’s general and regional elections, his party would push for independent forensic auditors to investigate suspected corruption and charge suspects if necessary.

He told an AFC ‘bottom house’ meeting at Liverpool, East Berbice, Corentyne, in response to a question from an attendee, that his party would advocate the hiring of overseas experts to remove any suspicion of racially and politically motivated bias if Guyanese are asked to conduct such audits.

“There are accounting firms and forensic auditing firms in the world who are independent, who are large and who have the capacity and we will hire those persons to conduct investigations where we believe that it is warranted,” said Mr Hughes, a criminal and civil lawyer.

Mr Hughes questioned where the US$2 billion that was earned up to June 2024 had gone as there was no evidence on what that money was spent on.

The AFC Leader vowed that those found culpable of graft and corruption would face the full force of the law. “Wherever they track the money and wherever they find people who are culpable, we will take their recommendations and then hire the best that we can find in the world in relation to how we recover that money,” he said.

The 2015-2020 A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) coalition administration had conducted several audits and established the State Assets Recovery Agency (SARA) which was disbanded shortly after the PPPC returned to office in 2020.

Earlier, AFC co-founder, Khemraj Ramjattan said infrastructural contracts were being awarded in a manner that resulted in the enrichment of a small clique in the business community.

PPP General Secretary, Bharrat Jagdeo last week said his party’s recently intensified stance against procurement-related corruption and irregularities stemmed from its failure to address the opposition’s allegations of corruption in the run-up to the 2015 elections.