N10b petition against PDP by Afegbua, spurious, irresponsible – Party

Tunde Opalana, Abuja

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed an allegation a member, Kassim Afegbua, upon which he claimed to have petitioned the EFCC and ICPC, asking that the leadership of the party account for an alleged sum of N10 billion allegedly realized from the sale of “forms in 2019”.

The party said Afegbua’s allegation and supposed petition is spurious and irresponsible because the PDP did not raise the sum of 10 billion as claimed by Afegbua.

Meanwhile, the PDP may consider seeking legal redress in challenging the spurious claims as National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said: “We have briefed our team of lawyers in the next line of action”.

Setting the record straight, Ologbondiyan at a press briefing Monday said “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 Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees 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 final approval.

“It is 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, the PDP has no account under the name or guise of Afegbua’s ghostly Morufu Nigeria Limited.

“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 APC administration to provide good governance.

“For the benefit of unsuspecting members of the public, the activities of a certain Afegbua have always been suspect and we urge Nigerians to be wary of such characters and their backers”.

Prince Kassim Afegbua, a,n aggrieved member of the party in a statement earlier said he has made true his promise to subject the leadership of the Uche Secondus-led PDP 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 on Monday at about 10.30 am handed over his petition and asking the EFCC to look into the financial transactions of the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, in the spirit of transparency, accountability, and book-keeping in line with the existing anti-corruption laws.

He noted that much of the financial transactions of the PDP under Prince Uche Secondus have been shrouded in mystery, accusing the leadership of a deliberate attempt to shortchange the party in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.

In the petition, Afegbua is asking the anti-graft agencies “to look into and scrutinize close to N10b naira that allegedly accrued to the party’s purse from 2017 till date especially those that were as a result of sales of nomination forms for Presidential, Gubernatorial, House of Assembly and Senatorial elections, saying as an opposition party, the leadership should lead by example by ensuring that there is transparency and accountability”.