Several political parties on Saturday denied collecting money from the Peoples Democratic Party to endorse its presidential candidate in the 2015 election, former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday in separate telephone interviews, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, the Labour Party, the Unity Party of Nigeria, the Progressives Peoples Alliance, the Advanced Congress of Democrats, the Peoples Democratic Movement and the Action Alliance debunked any claim that they received money from the PDP before the poll.
The denials came following the confessions by the Accord Party and the Social Democratic party that their national leaders, Chief Rasheed Ladoja and Chief Olu Falae, respectively, collected N100m each from the then Chairman of the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, to support Jonathan’s re-election bid.
The revelations were made by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, which is probing an alleged diversion of $2.1bn arms procurement fund by the Office of the National Security Adviser occupied by Col. Sambo Dasuki under the Jonathan-led administration.
The anti-graft agency had traced the money to several companies, groups, individuals and the then ruling party, the PDP, which allegedly used the money to mobilise other parties and parties to support its candidate.
The National Chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, told one of our correspondents that his party did not collect any money from the PDP in the last general elections.
“Please don’t involve us in this mess. We did not collect a dime from anybody or any party. They have the list of those who collected money. We did not collect a kobo from anyone,” he stated.
While the AA and the ACD claimed that they did not collect any money from the PDP or the former NSA, they could not vouch for some members of their parties.
The AA’s National Secretary, Mr. Kenneth Udeze, said, “There is no such money in our corporate bank account. We are not aware any money was given to our party by the PDP during the last general elections. If any money was given, we are not in the know.
“Our party’s democratic ideals will not permit us to do that. I must admit that there were some bad eggs in the party whom we had thrown out of the party. If any of such individuals collected money, we cannot say.”
ACD’s National Publicity Secretary, Nwokeafor Ikechukwu, said, “During the electioneering, our national chairman and secretary used to attend such meetings (called by the PDP) and what transpired at those meetings we don’t know. Up till now, our secretary has not told us whether money was shared in those meetings or not.
“We read in the papers that the SDP and the AP collected money. Our secretary, who used to attend these meetings, didn’t tell us about any money being collected.”
The PPA’s National Secretary, Mr. Kehinde Edun, told SUNDAY PUNCH that even though the party did not field any presidential candidate during the last election, it did not collect any money from the PDP.
“We have been around for some time. What we do in our party is to deliberate on issues and allow the wishes of the members and party leaders to prevail. As a party we do not depend on other political parties to determine what steps we will take on national issues. We do not impose opinions on our members,” Edun said.
The National Leader of the UPN, Dr. Frederick Fasehun, also denied that his party was sponsored to support Jonathan.
He said, “I am the National Chairman of the Unity Party of Nigeria and I can tell you that I did not collect a kobo from anybody. My endorsement (of Jonathan) was on principle, it was not for money. I didn’t take a kobo from anybody and the whole country can testify to that.”
The National Secretary of the LP, Mr. Kayode Ajulo, stated that he was not aware of any money collected by his party to support Jonathan in the last presidential poll.
The PDM’s National Vice Chairman, North-East, Mr. Muslim Maigari, also stated that he was not aware of the PDP giving any money to his party.
In a terse response to SUNDAY PUNCH’s inquiry whether the ACPN collected money from the PDP, a representative of the party, who did not disclose his name and position in the party said, “How did you get to that? Were we indicted?”
Similarly, Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has challenged anyone with evidence that the group was sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party to endorse its presidential candidate in the 2015 election, former President Goodluck Jonathan, to come out.
Afenifere and several Yoruba leaders had endorsed Jonathan for a second term, basing their position on Jonathan’s promise to restructure the country’s federal system through the implementation of the 2014 National Conference report.
The organisation queried why the Federal Government is not probing similar groups that endorsed and campaigned for President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, while speaking with SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday, said, “Have we asked those who supported Buhari questions? If anybody has anything against Afenifere, let them bring it out. Didn’t some people support the All Progressives Congress? Has anybody asked them if they collected money before supporting the party and Buhari? Is it a crime for anybody to support any party or candidate in any election? Why is it a democracy?”
When asked to state specifically if Afenifere was paid to support Jonathan, Odumakin stated, “Let anybody who has any evidence for such to bring it out.”
He added, “When Afenifere supported Buhari in 2003 and 2007, did they say Afenifere was sponsored? Did they have the money to sponsor us? We took the positions based on what we believed in.
“If that election was to take place again tomorrow, if there is a party that says it wants to restructure Nigeria and another says it doesn’t support it, we will support the party that wants to restructure Nigeria.”
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