Embattled AFC Chairman Nigel Hughes’ credibility takes another beating

- as he clutches Harding matter in bid to extricate himself from heat, public outrage over his alleged shady business
- PPP again calls for his resignation

Friday, 14 February 2014, Source

FACED with increasing public outrage over his alleged involvement in a property scam, the embattled Chairman of the Alliance For Change (AFC), Nigel Hughes is trying to extricate himself from the heat he is now confronted with by clutching to the Colwyn Harding matter.

Nigel Hughes

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP), in a statement yesterday, said it has observed that since the public revelation of the court action brought against him by the owner of Mae’s school, Nigel Hughes has been dodging the media and avoiding public appearances until Wednesday (two days ago) when he suddenly surfaced to announce a controversial ‘finding’ in an external medical examination on Harding.

The PPP said “his ramblings on the Harding matter further brings his credibility into serious questioning; especially coming days after the Police Complaints Authority reported there was no evidence of sodomy in the matter”.

The AFC Chairman is attempting to reinvent himself as the ‘good guy’ by clutching to this matter which has already been publicly pronounced on and is being dealt with at the level of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

“In one of the most profoundly astonishing and self-serving comments of recent, the AFC Leader Khemraj Ramjattan publicly down-play the plight of over 300 students whose education is at risk because of the ethical misconduct of Hughes. Ramjattan comment was interrupted to suggest his party has not considered this matter to be important much less to be considered,” the PPP stated.

“The public is aware of the numerous scandals of corruption, lack of transparency, lack of accountability, unethical conduct and other improprieties implicating the leadership of that small political party,” the PPP added.

It alluded to the “ongoing mass migration of members from the AFC” which continues to negatively impact that party’s existence. The PPP noted that several of the corruption scandals levelled against the AFC leadership came from among its membership as well who observed the trend of a pervasive disregard for principles of transparency and accountability by that party leadership.

The striking irony is that while the AFC lectures Guyanese on the need for transparency and accountability as a country, its own house from deep within is infested with corruption. The PPP condemns the double-standards being exhibited by the AFC and its cronies. “The AFC is in no position to lecture any stakeholder in Guyana about rooting out corruption when it is unable to do the same within its rank and file,” the party argued.

The PPP said it remains concerned over the future of the students of Mae’s school and increasingly so as they prepare to write CSEC examinations shortly.

The PPP also alluded to the AFC continuing to do nothing about continuous reports against its Chairman’s involvement in various forms of fraudulent activities, misconduct and improprieties.

Apart from this latest allegation that he sold a property to a popular city school despite taking out a mortgage which he failed to pay, and the ongoing litigation on the matter, Hughes was involved in several other scandals. The party recall the allegations of conflict of interest when it was revealed that Hughes and his wife Cathy were in the employ of Sithe Global, the company which developed the Amaila Falls Hydro Project which the AFC rejected.

Hughes was also embroiled in another controversy surrounding his deliberate failure to disclose his relationship with the jury foreman in the Lusignan massacre trial whilst representing one of the accused.

The PPP said it is well advised of Hughes’ links to criminal elements and the underworld. His bare faced representation of their interests in the courts when litigation is brought against them is a well-established fact. The party recalls his involvement in the removal of footage from the gas station where a citizen was gunned down at Buxton.

Again the PPP urges those citizens who may have fallen prey to Hughes’ alleged racketeering acts to lodge a report with the Guyana Police Force which should investigate all allegations keenly. “Our party will never allow any politician to trample on the fundamental rights of ordinary citizens,” the PPP declared.

It said “if the AFC has a shred of decency left it must distance itself from Hughes and rebuke his actions”.

“If the Ramjattan and Nagamootoo driven alliance has any integrity remaining, it must stop dodging the issue surrounding the constant controversies involving Hughes and demand the resignation of their Chairman,” the PPP suggested.