APC’s N37bn Campaign Fund for States
One of the positives from the squabbles in the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was the exposé on the huge amount the party sent to state chapters to finance the 2019 general election. N1billion. Yes, that’s how much each state got from the party’s headquarters in Abuja. This translates into N37 billion for the 36 states and Abuja. The figures of money spent directly by the party’s headquarters for the election is still not available. It will be earth-shaking when exposed. The former Vice Chairman (North Central) of the party, Suleiman Wambai, recently confirmed the amount sent to the states for the 2019 elections and gave an insight into how Kwara’s N1 billion was disbursed.
Wambai spoke following allegations by the factional Kwara State’s APC Chairman, Bashir Bolarinwa, that the N1 billion was given to the Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, for his campaign.
Wambai said: “That particular money (N1 billion) came with a specific template of distribution and various stakeholders, including national officers, were involved in its disbursement. The candidate, (Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq) 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. 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.”
How did the APC, a party that persistently talks about change, raise the N37 billion sent to the state chapters for the 2019 election? Clearly, not from its members. Some federal government departments and agencies are culpable. They pumped money into the party’s campaign. The APC visibly dipped its hands into public treasury to fund elections in 2019. This was the same crime the APC accused the PDP of perpetrating in 2015 when the party disbursed N450 million to each state. When the APC took over power at the centre, it hounded the PDP leaders that took delivery of the N450 million. The EFCC still has many of the PDP guys in court for the money described as public fund.
Now, under an APC government, the disbursement to each state for the 2019 election jumped to N1 billion. We are indeed in an era of change. One thing is certain: The APC will not remain in government at the centre for ever. The party will also, one day, account for this huge campaign fund.