The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday admitted that each member received the sum of N30million during the election period, as it has offered that its finances be investigated by any firm of chartered accountants, while giving account of its financial transactions within the period of the presidential campaigns.
Addressing news men on Monday, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Olisa Metuh said that despite the intervention of President Jonathan into the issue Sunday night, that the NWC of the party felt that it is necessary for the party to call for a transparent forensic audit into the finances of the party since the commencement of the presidential and general elections.
He decried the actions of the aides of the President in circulating payment vouchers of housing, furniture and medical allowances of the NWC to the media, stating that it points to the fact that the aides of the president concerned has a heinous agenda against the NWC of the party.
Metuh reiterated that the NWC did not receive any money directly for the 2015 general elections, rather, he said that out of the money generated from the sales of delegate forms, governorship and state and national assembly forms that the party donated the sum of N500 million to the presidential campaign of the party, N100 million each to the 29 governorship candidates of the party.
He acknowledged that the members of the NWC received N30 million each, but said that the money was for their medical, furniture and housing allowances for the past two and half years.
Prodded by reporters to disclose the names of the aides of the President that are behind the hate campaign against the NWC, Metuh refused, stating that President Jonathan has intervened in a meeting held at the presidential villa on Sunday.
In the speech he read, Metuh said, “We had also alerted the Nigerian public through you that some members of our party, including ambitious aides and associates of President Goodluck Jonathan, are using their perceived closeness to him to further their heinous agenda of injecting crisis in the party with a view to highjacking the structure for their selfish interests.
“In the attempt to discredit the NWC, these elements pushed out series of misleading information to the unsuspecting public alleging that the party leadership mismanaged the Presidential campaign funds, leading to the poor performance in the polls and as such NWC should be made to resign.
“When this wicked and baseless allegation was debunked by the NWC who publicly clarified that it was not involved in the handling of the campaign and its funding, and that such were exclusively managed by the Presidential Campaign Organization appointed by the President, these divisive elements in their desperation came up with another allegation claiming that the leadership embezzled funds belonging to the party.
“Even after the NWC also debunked this despicable allegation, showing that the party’s funds were judiciously appropriated for our state election campaigns, this group resorted to labeling the NWC with attempts to instigate President Jonathan, PDP governors and other well-meaning members of our party against the national leadership.”
The PDP National Publicity Secretary blamed part of the reason for defeat of President Jonathan in the election on part of the hate campaigns adopted by the Presidential Campaigns against the opposition presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.
