PDP denies N10 billion fraud allegation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday reacted to the petition against the National Chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus, by a member of the party, Prince Kasim Afegbua, over allegations of misappropriation of N10 billion, stating that it has submitted its audited account to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The party, therefore, directed all enquiries on the sales of the nomination form to INEC, explaining also that all disbursement from the sales of forms passed through all approved organs of the party.

Addressing journalists yesterday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement titled: ‘Afegbua’s Allegation Spurious, Irresponsible’, explained that while the PDP, leaders and members are aware that there is no truth in the allegation, however, for the benefit of the public and the teeming supporters, the PDP states as follows: ‘The PDP did not raise Afegbua’s fictitious sum of N10 billion as alleged by him. For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP generated the sum of N4.6 billion and raised a budget for its expenditure in line with all known financial regulations of our party.

“This budget passed through the organs of our party and received the approvals from the NWC, the PDP Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees (BoT) as well as other organs of the party.

“As a law-abiding political party that respects the doctrine of rule of law and transparency, the budget was presented to the National Executive Committee (NEC), where it also received a final approval.”

However, Ologbondiyan said it’s imperative to state that all the sums received and budgeted for passed through the due process of approval by the necessary organs of the party.

Moreover, he explained that the PDP has no account under the name or guise of “Afegbua’s ghostly Morufu Nigeria Limited.”

According to the spokesperson of the PDP, “Having said that, as a political party under whose administration the EFCC and the ICPC were formulated and established, our party strictly adheres to best practices of transparency, accountability and probity in all issues, including our financial administration.

“In addition, our party has since submitted the audited account of its financial expenditures to the INEC for 2019, in line with statutory requirements of the law.

“The PDP will not in any way be distracted by an inconsequential blackmailer hired to mudsling our party and its leadership in order to divert attention from the salient issues of insecurity and drooping economy trailing the failures of the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration to provide good governance.”

He said for the benefit of unsuspecting members of the public, “the activities of a certain Afegbua have always been suspect,” urging Nigerians to be wary of such characters and their backers.

Kasim Afegbua, former commissioner for information in Edo State and a chieftain of the PDP made true his promise to subject the leadership of the Secondus-led National Working Committee (NWC) to financial scrutiny by submitting a petition to the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Afegbua, who stormed the EFCC and ICPC offices yesterday at about 10.30 a.m. handed over his petition, asking the EFCC to look into the financial transactions of the National Chairman of the party, Secondus, in the spirit of transparency, accountability and book-keeping in line with the existing anti-corruption laws.