The NWC has noted that this misleading report stemmed from an unfounded publication by a particular media outlet which suggested that the Housing Allowance, an entitlement duly approved and paid to national officials and staff of the Party amounted to bribery.
By Deborah Hassan
365Daily – The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has denied bribing officials of the National Working Committee (NWC), saying the money reported as inducement was duly approved housing allowance entitled to staff and national officials.
This is in reaction to reports in some national dailies that some NWC members returned monies paid to them because they deemed them as bribes by the party leadership.
However, PDP’s National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, in a statement issued on Thursday, September 29, 2022, described the media reports as “strange and unfounded motives to the Housing Allowance duly approved and paid to NWC members and staff of the Party.”
He said: “The NWC has noted that this misleading report stemmed from an unfounded publication by a particular media outlet which suggested that the Housing Allowance, an entitlement duly approved and paid to national officials and staff of the Party amounted to bribery.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP states in an unequivocal term that no funds were paid into the account of any member of the NWC as bribe for any purpose whatsoever for that matter.
“To set the record straight, the Housing Allowance being referred to went through the Due Process of the Party in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.
“If any individual, for any reason decides to return money duly approved and paid, such does not in any way suggest that the money was paid as bribe or indicate that it was illegitimate or unlawfully paid.
“A bribe is defined as ‘money or any other valuable consideration given or promised with a view to corrupting the behavior of a person especially in that person’s performance as a public official…”. This is not the case in the payment of Housing Allowance duly approved for officials and staff of the Party.
“The PDP therefore urges all members, teeming supporters and the general public to disregard the report and misleading insinuation which are clearly designed to malign the PDP, cause disaffection and distract our Party from our mission to Rescue, Rebuild and Redirect our nation from the misrule of the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
Meanwhile, a PDP NEC member, Mr. Chinemerem Madu, had, on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, alerted of “furtive moves” by a National Vice Chairman and a couple of members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) to “derail the Presidential Campaign and scuttle the deserving victory of tge Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar at the 2023 general elections.”
According to him, “This National Vice Chairman and his cohorts who confessed to have been heavily bankrolled are approaching and offering members of NEC sums ranging from N25 million to N28 million each to address a damaging press conference with fabrications aimed at derailing the Presidential Campaign.
“The said National Vice Chairman had approached me personally as a member of NEC to inform me of plots to orchestrate a heavily funded Press Conference to be addressed by select NEC members seemingly calling for the resignation of the National Chairman, Sen. Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, but actually targeted at frustrating the Atiku Abubakar Presidential bid.
“He pointedly confessed to me that the demands and agitation of his group has not been against the Party Chairman, as the public have been made to believe, but against Atiku Abubakar.
“He also vowed that nothing will assuage the group which is now bent at derailing the PDP Presidential Campaign.
“Central to this plot is the timing of the damaging press conference, which has been scheduled to hold soon after the inauguration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council and official commencement of campaigns with a view to unsettle the PDP Presidential Campaign and scuttle Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential bid.
“Part of the scheme is to use the press conference to throw up heavily concocted script which will contain unprintable damaging claims, assertions and allusions that will trigger confusion within the Party and sidetrack the Presidential Campaign
“The said National Vice Chairman informed me of how huge sums have been paid to certain media houses and social media influencers to isolate and escalate the damaging content of the press content and throw up negative narratives to frustrate the campaign.”