PDP Crisis: Six NWC members return over N177m paid into their accounts to party

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.Money is housing allowance, not bribe, says spokesman

.Take advantage of APC’s unpreparedness to campaign, Okowa charges members

OBIORA IFOH, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP was on Thursday faced with a fresh crisis over a multimillion naira alleged bribery scandal involving some members of the National Working Committee, NWC who were reportedly paid to support the embattled national chairman of the party, Senator Iyorcha Ayu.

At the time of filing this report, no fewer than
six members of the NWC were said to have refunded over N177.6 million to the coffers of the main opposition party.

The money which range from N28 million to N36 million each was shared to the party leaders.

The money was part of N15 billion nomination fees paid by aspirants for various offices in the 2023 general election.

As the bribery allegation spread on Thursday the NWC members who were reportedly paid the cash returned the money in cheques and transfers to the party purse.

Among those who have returned the alleged bribe are the Deputy National Chairman, South, Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, the National Women Leader, Prof Stella Effah-Attoe and the National Vice-Chairman, South-South, Chief Dan Orbih.

There were also reports that the National Vice Chairman Southeast, Dr Alli Odefa, the National Vice-Chairman, Southwest Adagunobi-Oluwatukesi and the Deputy National Secretary, Hon Setonji Koshoedo have also returned their own share of the money paid out to the party members.

However Daily Champion sighted documents wherein Arapaja returned N36 million paid to him as housing allowance while Effah-Attoe and Orbih each returned N28 million.

Some of them claimed that the money paid to them was done in suspicious manner while others stated that they had to check various alerts they got after a national newspaper, The Nation, published the messy sharing recently

But a source told our correspondent that the money was paid to them in the form of housing allowance.

We gathered that the return of the money follows reports that the NWC members had been settled to overlook allegations of the misappropriation of the N15 billion collected as nomination fees from aspirants for elective political offices during the party’s recent primaries.

It would be recalled that the embattled national chairman of PDP travelled out of the country recently on a sick leave. But insiders believe that his trip has much to do with the pressure being mounted on him by some leaders of the party to step down from office.

The camp led by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike which also includes four other state governors, former governors and top leaders of the party are insisting on Ayu’s removal and replacement with a Southerner as a condition for their further participation in the party’s activities for the 2023 general election.

In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the news making round alluding strange and unfounded motives to the Housing Allowance duly approved and paid to NWC members and staff of the party are untrue

In a statement, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Debo Ologunagba said the huge money was indeed the Housing Allowance, an entitlement duly approved and paid to national officials and staff of the Party and not bribe as alleged.

He said, “For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP states in an unequivocal term that no funds were paid into the account of any member of the NWC as bribe for any purpose whatsoever for that matter.

“To set the record straight, the Housing Allowance being referred to went through the Due Process of the Party in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.

“If any individual, for any reason decides to return money duly approved and paid, such does not in any way suggest that the money was paid as bribe or indicate that it was illegitimate or unlawfully paid.

“A bribe is defined as “money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person especially in that person’s performance as a public official…”.
This is not the case in the payment of Housing Allowance duly approved for officials and staff of the Party.

“The PDP therefore urges all members, teeming supporters and the general public to disregard the report and misleading insinuation which are clearly designed to malign the PDP, cause disaffection and distract our Party from our mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”

Meanwhile, the Vice-Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has charged party members to take advantage of obvious unpreparedness of other political parties, including All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2023 polls as being demonstrated by their continual inability to put their acts together, to overwhelm them in the elections.

Okowa, who is the Governor of Delta, made the call at the inaugural meeting of PDP’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) in Abuja on Thursday, and cited the huge lapses in the selection of vice-presidential candidates by the other political parties and the delay in the constitution and inauguration of their campaign councils as indications of their pedigree and un-seriousness.

He congratulated members of the PCC for their selection into the council, and said that with the calibre of persons in the body, PDP would re-take government in Nigeria for the benefit of the people.

He, however, remarked that there was arduous work to be done by the PDP to attain its target of rescuing Nigeria, but stated that the task was surmountable.

Okowa urged leaders and all other members of the party to return to their Units and Wards across the country to mobilise the people, saying that the elections would be won at the grassroots.

He acknowledged that many members of the party would be angling to be on the national campaign “train’’ to move around the country, but reiterated the strength the party would exert in the electioneering ahead of the elections was in the units and wards.

“Our strength and size of our followers, as leaders, will be best tested and harnessed in our units and wards. So, I urged every leader and member of the party to return to their homes because that is where the elections will be won,’’ he stated.

He urged members of the North West to leverage the ongoing mass defection of people into the PDP from other political parties, especially the APC, to strengthen the ranks of the party in the zone.

For the North East, he charged party faithful not to be discouraged or intimidated because the presidential running mate of the ruling APC was from there, and told them to be encouraged by the “Rescue Nigeria’’ mission of the PDP.

He stated that the party was faring well in the South South and the South East “and even the South West where people are thinking that we are in the minority.

“What we are going to achieve in the South West in the elections will surprise the people because we are sure of repeating what we did in Osun.’’

In his remarks, Chairman of the PCC and Governor of Akwa Ibom, Mr Udom Emmanuel, restated the imperativeness of members of the party, especially leaders, to return to their political units and wards to market PDP and ensure that the party won all elections.

He urged members of the Council to be committed to the assignment by applying themselves to it in a way that would motivate others.

In another development ,Vice-Presidential Candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has charged party members to take advantage of obvious unpreparedness of other political parties, including All Progressives Congress (APC), for the 2023 polls as being demonstrated by their continual inability to put their acts together, to overwhelm them in the elections.