Angry PDP Investigates Bribe Allegation; Says Payment Was legal, Approved

By Adesina Soyooye

Smarting from allegations of bribery against its National Officers, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has set up a Committee to investigate how a national newspaper came about the story.

The Nation (Newspaper) which proprietor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, broke the story of the alleged bribery which quickly went viral.

According to The Nation, the National Chairman of the PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, allegedly bribed the Party officials to the tune of hundreds of millions of Naira. However, some of the officials, four of them, returned their own money which was paid into their bank accounts. The Nation not only revealed the names of those who returned their share and how much each of them returned, it published the letters written by each of them to Ayu intimating him of the return.

It is not known why the four returned the money, but the PDP says the money was their housing allowance, approved by the party. It said it was, also, part of their conditions of service, as approved by the Party. More important, the Party said, the payments followed every due process.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, 4th October, 2022, and signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, the PDP said it has set up a Committee to investigate the source of the story published by The Nation. The statement was issued at the end of the Party’s  National Working Committee, NWC, meeting. At the meeting, Ologunagba said, NWC members confirmed that the money was duly approved and followed due process. The statement said that even those who returned the money, agreed at the meeting that the money was  for Housing allowance and nothing more.

The full text of the statement reads as follows:

Housing Allowance Passed Through Party Due Process- PDP NWC Confirms; Constitutes Investigative Committee On The Nation Newspaper Report

“The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its meeting on Tuesday, October 4, 2022 thoroughly examined the strange publication by a particular newspaper which reported that the Housing Allowance legally paid by the Party to its National Officers was bribe.

“After a thorough scrutiny of the payment by the Party, the NWC in session established that the payment was not a bribe but Housing Allowance duly approved and paid to National Officers of the Party in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.

“The NWC also established that the payment passed through Due Process procedures of the Party in accordance with all extant financial regulations and payment approval processes of the Party.

“It is also instructive to state that the National Officers who returned their Housing Allowances equally confirmed and affirmed at the meeting that the payment was not bribe but their due entitlements in line with the Conditions of Service and Entitlement of the Staff and Principal Officers of the Party.

“Considering the above, the NWC resolved to conduct an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the said publication in The Nation Newspaper of September 26, 2022 which was clearly targeted to cause disaffection among members and stakeholders of the Party as well as bring the Party to disrepute before our teeming supporters all over the world particularly in an election year.

“Consequently, the NWC has set up an Investigative Committee headed by the National Legal Adviser to conduct an inquiry into the source of the said malicious and injurious publication contained in The Nation Newspaper of September 26, 2022.

“The Committee has one week to investigate the matter and report back to the NWC for further action.”