A very reliable Peoples Democratic Party inside source has revealed that N21 billion, out of the money raised by the PDP to prosecute the 2015 presidential election has been pocketed by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.
A party chieftain, who does not want his name in print said on Wednesday night in Abuja that Dame Jonathan blackmailed the Chairman of the fund raising committee and member of the PDP’s Board of Trustees, Prof. Jerry Gana, to collect the money.
The fund, which was raised in part at a dinner held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, was meant for the party’s electioneering and the construction of the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.
However, as the electioneering drew near, the president’s wife was said to have requested for part of the money for her use.
She reportedly invited Gana to the Presidential Villa where she requested for the money.
A source told The Eagle Online that “Prof. Gana initially resisted, but the application of threat and blackmail forced him to give up the N21 billion, which no one had access to throughout the campaign.”
Gana was said to have reached out to the wife of Vice President Namadi Sambo, Hajia Amina Sambo, and some other close allies of Dame Jonathan to prevail on her to release the fund, but this did not work out.
A source said both the Vice President and his wife said they would have nothing to do with speaking to Dame Jonathan on the campaign funds in her kitty.
An email sent by Eagle Online to the spokesman of Dame Jonathan, Ayo Adewuyi, on the story was not responded to as at press time.
Another source told our correspondent that part of what actually frustrated the campaign effort of President Jonathan was the way and manner people entrusted with campaign funds handled their assignments.
For instance, about N2.5 billion said to have been released to Femi Fani-Kayode, director of media of the Goodluck Campaign organisation was also withheld. Throughout the campaign and election period, no member of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, GOCOP, whom the fund was meant for for campaign advertisement got anything.
Similarly, another source said that the former governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi allegedly held on to N4 billion allocated to Lagos PDP to prosecute the campaign.
The money, according to a chieftain of the party in Lagos, was lodge in Obi’s bank, Fidelity Bank but New Mail could not ascertain as at press time if the money was eventually released to the party.
Sources close to the president had reasoned that the main rationale behind Jonathan’s continuous visit to south West and some parts of the South East in the days leading to the polls was to personally disbursed money said to be in foreign currencies to people have realised that most of his foot soldiers were helping themselves with the campaign funds.
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