Money-for-defection: Jigawa govt to sue PDP

The Jigawa state government has threatened to sue the opposition Peoples Democratic party (PDP) over what it calls “persistent lies and crass fabrication of falsehood” saying N400million was spent on the 370,000 decampees to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an interview with Daily Trust, the state’s Deputy Governor, Barrister Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia expressed concern over the PDP’s decision to concoct ‘wild and frivolous tales at regular intervals’ in its attempt to ‘adjust to the realities’.

“We are studying the statement credited to the PDP chairman. We will exercise legal options at seeking redress to send a strong signal to the opposition and stem the tide of reckless fabrications that have become the hallmark of jobless party stalwarts that have fed fat on government largesse and were now undergoing withdrawal syndrome,” he warned.

The PDP had last week accused the state government of using N400million of public funds to receive decampees from its fold to the APC.

Hadejia said the Badaru administration was an epitome of fiscal responsibility and prudent management in the face of constantly dwindling resources.

He said the PDP, which had been used to paying rented crowd and political patronage as evidenced by latest revelations from the Office of Security Adviser (ONSA), could not believe that the mass of people who attended the event were not bought.

“In fact, not a single kobo from government coffers was expended on the event because the decampees brought in their supporters to buttress the scope of mass abandonment of the PDP. Every expense was handled by private individuals,” he explained.