The ruling Peoples Democratic
Party has been accused of
budgeting N5bn each for the 36
states of the federation in
desperate moves to recover lost
grounds and win the rescheduled
general elections slated for March
28 and April 11, 2014.
But the party’s National Publicity
Secretary, Mr. Olisah Metuh, denied
the allegation.
A source close to the All
Progressives Congress, who did not
want his name mentioned, told one
of our correspondents that the PDP
was desperate to win the elections
at all cost thus resorting to
mobilising the huge fund to “tidy
up every conceivable loophole.”
Saturday PUNCH learnt that the first
tranche of the money, which
amounts to N2bn, is being sent to
state chapters of the PDP with the
N3bn balance expected to follow as
time goes on. When put together,
this will amount to N180bn for the
36 states.
When asked to explain what he
meant by “tidy up every
conceivable loophole,” the source
said the PDP planned to mobilise
the money to sway the APC
supporters and some senior
security agents.
The source, who pleaded again for
the second time not to reveal his
identity during the telephone
conversation with one of our
correspondents, said the PDP felt
jittery as a result of the assault on
President Goodluck Jonathan by
youths in some states in the North
before the general elections were
postponed.
The source said the party was
worried that the assault might
affect Jonathan’s chances in the
North and as a result planned to
use available strategies to regain
its depleted popularity.
But Metuh said this was mere
rumour being peddled by the
opposition party. He said PDP was
sure of victory in the next elections
because of its popularity among
Nigerians.
Metuh spoke with one of our
correspondents on Thursday in
Abuja.
He said, “The APC is known for
raising false alarm and by now
Nigerians must be tired of its
accusations, which usually lack
substance.
“Where does APC think we will get
such amount of money? Nigerians
should ignore the allegation
because it has no meaning and
does not make sense. Anyone
making such allegation must come
out and substantiate it.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
