Former All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, has disclosed how the party pumped billions of naira into securing victories in key states during the 2019 general elections.
Speaking at the launch of a book titled “APC and Transition Politics” by the party’s ex-vice chairman (North-West), Salihu Moh Lukman, Oshiomhole opened up on the extent the APC went to in its quest for power.
He claimed the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) spent N1.6 billion to fight and win governorship elections in Kwara and Ogun states alone. He further revealed instrumental support for Hope Uzodimma’s emergence as governor of Imo State.
Oshiomhole said under his leadership, N220 million was refunded to candidates who contributed to challenging the incumbent Kwara governor, adding that it was in line with the “must-win” mentality adopted for the state.
He also detailed financial support extended to other candidates, with N20 million each provided to senatorial aspirants and N10 million to House of Representatives hopefuls, saying that these were grants, not loans.
He added, “To my credit, which Lukman refused to comment on, when I became chairman of the APC, I felt that party supremacy should go beyond giving people a platform. It is on record that some governors were to fund, through contributions, the states where we don’t have APC governors.
“Our NWC for which I am proud, took the APC money, no governor contributed a dime to us, and managed our resources without going cap in hand. We summoned the CBN governor to inform him that the governors have reneged on their promise to support states where we don’t have governors.
“We sent almost N800 million to reinforce the Otoge agenda, and I am happy that we wiped out the Saraki political dynasty. It was not a loan but a grant from the APC treasury. We even refunded the N220 million that other candidates contributed to contest against the current governor because for us, it was a battle that must be fought and won because we must put our money where we are putting our mouth.
“In Ogun, the governor who was rebelling against the party thought that he would use money, but we raised N800 million from the APC account to support that governor and I am happy that he won.
“We supported Hope Uzodimma, and I was happy that he won. All of them got between N500 million to N600 million. We also gave in Taraba, but somehow, we lost that one. I want to say that Lukman never amplified the APC that contributed money to support candidates running elections on its platform.
“We supported all the 109 senatorial candidates with N20 million each to support their campaign. Every member of the House of Representatives, numbering 360, including the then Speaker, got N10 million each to support their campaign.”
Justifying the action taken by the party, Oshiomhole said: “We did it so that when we say party supremacy, they know that we are not only giving them money, we did not only campaign for them, we also funded them. Lukman never found space to write any of these innovations.”
