By Mike Odiakose
All Progressives Congress, APC, on Tuesday said that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and its the presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar are in dilemma on how to raise funds for the 2019 election campaigns.
APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena, said in a statement that PDP is finding it difficult to raise campaign funds because President Muhammadu Buhari has blocked all loopholes that made it difficult to assess public funds.
According to Nabena, available information from the PDP’s recent strategy meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirate disclosed that there was a major setback as the hope of sourcing campaign funds from public coffers were dashed.
“The Presidential Candidate expects the party to provide funds for his campaign. This is the Buhari Era, an era of strict accountability and transparency in the use and application of public funds and not the Jonathan Era in 2015 when the National Treasury was opened to PDP leaders to prosecute the Presidential campaign.
“The party leaders are therefore in serious difficulties and dilemma on how to source funds to run the Atiku Presidential Campaign. Some financers of the party expect that the candidate, having bought the ticket with millions of dollars should have the financial capacity to run his campaign. With the candidate’s expectation that it is the party that will fund his campaign it is now clear that they are at a crossroads and the chickens have come home to roost.
“The anti-corruption agencies should gird their loins and ensure that all sources of campaign fund by the political parties are closely monitored and recover the funds looted during the Jonathan Era. Such recovered funds should be applied for the benefits of the poor masses who were denied democracy benefits during the 16years misrule of the PDP.
“It is now clear to the members of the PDP who were deceived into believing that their Presidential Candidate is a man of stupendous wealth that it is all a mirage, a 419 packaging and that they entered a ‘one chance’ bus.
“As we approach February 2019 when General Elections will be held in Nigeria, the electorate is becoming more conscious and aware of the deceitful nature of their so-called leaders. Alhaji Atiku Abubakar the Presidential Candidate of the PDP is nationally known as a man of immense wealth. Apart from his being a retired officer of the Department of Customs & Excise not above the rank of Deputy Director, and not known to have been an exceptionally successful businessman, his claims to stupendous wealth and source are questionable and lack credibility.
“During the “dollar rain” at the Port Harcourt Convention of the Party, he outspent all the other aspirants and easily clinched the party’s Presidential Candidacy ticket.
“Having emerged without the support of the “Governor General” of the party, who had earlier produced the party’s National Chairman and ordered the party to hold the convention in Port Harcourt, Alhaji Atiku is now on ‘his own’ in bankrolling his campaign.
“The Nigerian Electorate has a better alternative– to stick to the clean, honest and transparent leadership of Muhammadu Buhari GCFR who has done so much to ensure better future for them after the 16 years misrule of the PDP.”
But in a swift reaction, spokesman man of the former Vice President, Paul Ibe, dismissed the APC’s insinuation, saying the coming presidential election will not be about money but the supreme will of the Nigerians people.
Paul Ibe said: “Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. Nothing can stop the zeal of Nigerians to elect the President of their choice. This election will not be won by money or lies or propaganda or intimidation but by the supreme will of the Nigerian people as expressed in their vote.
“Atiku Abubakar will be elected as President by Nigerians in February 2019 notwithstanding the machinations of the APC-led administration,” he stated.
