Organization, APCPCO, Monday, accused President Goodluck
Jonathan of shifting N1 trillion from the public coffers to
fund his campaigns of buying over traditional rulers and
some major interest groups.
The APCPCO also said part of the money was also being
used in funding what it described as the hate campaign
launched against the presidential candidate of All
Progressives Congress, APC, General Mohammadu Buhari.
The accusation was immediately rebuffed by the Jonathan
campaign yesterday which accused the Buhari campaign of
being gripped with fear of losing the election.
The APCPCO regretted that President Jonathan who should
ensure accelerated development of the country with its
resources had gone on a wild goose chase, disparaging
Buhari and squandering the resources of the nation in a bid
to win the election.
Director, Media and Publicity of the Buhari campaign,
Mallam Garba Shehu while asking Nigerians to think twice
before voting this Saturday, said that Jonathan should have
resorted to showcasing his legacies in office instead of
sharing money.
“We will like to bring to your attention and that of Nigerians
how the President Goodluck Jonathan led Peoples
Democratic Party government is wasting one trillion Naira
that belong to Nigerian people in his self-serving and
desperate bid for a re-election at all cost in the midst of
grinding poverty his party and government has subjected
Nigerians to in the last 16 years.
“It is unconscionable and height of betrayal of public trust
that a government and a President who should preside over
the husbandry and judicious use of our national patrimony
is superintending over its massive squander in a futile
attempt to stop the idea of change. Let us sound a note of
warning at this point that no amount of sponsored negative
media propaganda can stop this idea whose time has come.
“The APC Presidential Campaign and the acceptability of our
candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice
Presidential Candidate, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has
become a peoples’ movement and Nigerian masses who are
the drivers of change are the major stakeholders.
“A panoramic view of how much Nigeria’s resources
Jonathan and PDP have laboriously and wantonly spent on
print, broadcast and social media campaigns just to damage
the unassailable credential of Gen Buhari’s integrity will
confound any casual observer of the polity in recent times.
“An average cost of a wrap around in Tier 1 and Tier 2
newspapers in Nigeria is between N15 million to N20 million
and the Jonathan campaign buys average of 5 wrap around
and front pages in a day in the last 3 months coupled with
the hundreds of billions that have been spent on negative TV
exposures on AIT, NTA and other television and radio
stations across the country.
“We had expected that a President that has spent about 6
years in office with the revenues more than what all
governments before him had received will run on a record
of performance rather than peddling lies and hate media
campaigns that are accentuating ethnic and religious
tensions in the country.”
Shehu also stated that Jonathan had spent handsomely on
traditional rulers in the south west, revealing that the
presidential financial train had now moved to the north.
According to him, the monies expended on PDP campaigns
could provide jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in
the country.
“President Jonathan has been criss-crossing Nigeria giving
an average of N50 million each to traditional rulers, most
especially in the South West and the Northern parts of
Nigeria. This week, the President’s campaign money is being
shipped to the North.
“You will recall that a Pastor recently confirmed that N7
billion was given to Pastors to spread unfounded allegations
of Islamaphobia and scare mongering against Gen Buhari
and other APC leaders.
“A fraction of the trillion naira hate campaign expenditure
will fund the APC programme of feeding primary school
pupils in Nigeria on one nutritional meal a day, comfortably
pay N5000 monthly to 25 million very poor Nigerians for a
year and pay unemployment benefit for one year for
graduates who can’t find gainful employment one year after
NYSC which are core to the social welfare programmes of
the APC Federal government Gen Buhari will lead.
Reacting to the allegations last night the PDP Presidential
Campaign Organisation, PDPPCO spent over one trillion
naira of Nigeria’s tax payers’ money on media and to bribe
traditional rulers especially in the South West, Director,
Media and Publicity, PDPPCO, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode
described the APC of being gripped by the fear of losing
Saturday’s general election.
Fani-Kayode who noted that very little of what APC says
worries the party, said that the allegation was evident that
the party has lost touch with reality.
He said, “They are afraid of losing. The president of this
country does not give bribe; we do not believe that
traditional rulers in this country, especially those in South
West are bribe takers.
“They also said money was given to pastors. That is a lie. No
pastor of the living God, no pastor worth his salt is a bribe
taker.”
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