Date: 2021-07-02

THE former Vice Chairman (North Central) of the All Progressives Congress, Suleiman Wambai, on Wednesday, gave an insight into how the N1bn sent to Kwara state by the party for the 2019 elections was disbursed.

He spoke against the background of allegations by the factional State APC Chairman, Bashir Bolarinwa, that the fund was given to the Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, for his campaign.

Wambai spoke in an interview with journalists in Abuja, on Wednesday. He said "That particular money came with a specific template of distribution and various stakeholders, including national officers, were involved in its disbursement.

"The candidate, like his colleagues in other states, took delivery of the said funds but that was all. Its disbursement followed a template that the party had earlier approved.

"As the chairman of the party in the north central I was to be there, but I couldn't possibly be in all the North Central states at the same time. In any case, we had a national officer of the party, the National Publicity Secretary who is from Kwara State.

"We did not have any complaints from Kwara or any other state that the said fund was mismanaged. It was used for the purpose it was meant for."

He noted that the allegation by the former Kwara State chairman of the APC Bashir Bolarinwa that the Governor did not disclose the fund sent to him was "definitely false because the disbursement was transparently done, otherwise, where did the money paid to our party agents, supervisors, canvassers came from? The reports from Kwara and elsewhere showed that all the polling agents and others that were meant to be paid were duly paid as designed."

"This matter can only generate controversy out of ignorance. If they were aware of the restrictions the electoral laws impose on campaign fund donations, they wouldn't be saying that.

"All (governorship) candidates were made the leaders in their respective state to coordinate and lead the campaigns. They ran their own campaign mostly with their own funds. The money we sent was to cover logistics for elections and as I said, the template for its disbursement came directly from the headquarters of the party and that was what everyone followed. Any claim to the contrary is false."