A former Secretary-General of Afenifere, Sen. Femi Okurounmu, told our correspondent on Saturday that his group, Yoruba Progressives, was not paid to endorse Jonathan.
Okurounmu, who dissociated himself from Afenifere, noted that he could not confirm if the group’s leaders received monies for the election or not. He said he left the group since 2011 and his endorsement of Jonathan was based on personal conviction.
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 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.
Okurounmu said, “I also read the news in the newspapers like everyone else and I have not had the chance to talk with him (Falae) since I read it. From what I read, I understood he got it (the money) for the SDP.
“I have had my issues with the Afenifere leadership since the last four years. I have not been attending their meetings since 2011; I just didn’t want to make it public. This is why I cannot explain what happened or what they did.
“Afenifere endorsed Jonathan but I was not a party to it. I, as Femi Okurounmu, endorsed Jonathan. It was not with Afenifere. I lead a group called Yoruba Progressives and we also endorsed Jonathan.”
Asked if his group was sponsored for the endorsement, he said, “No, it was not sponsored. It was a voluntary group not sponsored by anybody.”
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.
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