THE Presidency has rejected a media report that President Goodluck Jonathan is demanding a refund of N2 trillion unused campaign funds, following his disappointing outcome in the presidential election, saying that the report is mischievous, false and embarrassing.
Speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja, on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, maintained that those behind the story were intent on causing crisis in the country.
He rejected the suggestion that President Jonathan had set up a five-man committee to probe the use of the funds.
“The front-page story of a national newspaper of April 19, alleging that the Presidency spent a whopping N2 trillion on the 2015 general election and that a committee of five has been set up by President Jonathan to conduct an audit of how the funds were disbursed by party members and state officials is mischievous, false and embarrassing.
"The president has not set up any committee as alleged in that story. It is also not true that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used state funds, or spent N2 trillion during the campaigns. The innuendoes are wrong-headed; the motives behind the story are suspicious.
"The story alleges, for example, that the Presidency spent N2 trillion on elections and embarked on a money-sharing spree to party members, support groups and state officials. The authors of the story and their self-appointed megaphones further insinuate that public funds were deployed in this regard. Their allegation of theft of public funds is extremely malicious.
"How much is the budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria? The annual budget of the Federal Government is a little over N4 trillion. The story is practically suggesting that half of the federal budget was spent on elections. This kind of reckless insinuation is meant to incite the public and instigate national crisis.
"With FAAC having to do everything possible every month to ensure disbursements and with the Federal Government heavily committed to the war against terror in the North-East, where is the alleged N2 trillion from the federal purse?
“President Jonathan and PDP conducted the 2015 elections in strict accordance with the rule of law. The suggestion of any unlawful conduct cannot be sustained under any circumstances.
"President Jonathan has done his best to protect and strengthen democracy and promote peace. He justly deserves all the accolades that he has received from both Nigerians and the international community for this. Certain persons and interest groups may not be happy that his profile has further risen and that his legacy is assured; but they do their country gross disservice when they act so unpatriotically.
"Anyone who is engaged in imposing a crisis on the country by any means is not being fair to Nigeria. We can only appeal to the public to be wary of such reckless tactics now on display, which form the substance of an odd, malicious campaign after the elections.
"We are particularly worried that since the March 28 and April 11 elections, some persons have continued to work very hard to diminish the Jonathan presidency. They need to be reminded that the time for politics is over; it is now time to focus on the in-coming government, with emphasis on national development and moving the country forward," he said.
Also reacting, the PDP cast doubt over claims that President Jonathan is demanding for a return of the sum of N2trillion unspent presidential campaign funds, saying that the money available for the exercise could not have been anything near such amount.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also cast doubt over claims that President Jonathan was demanding for a return of the sum of N2 trillion unspent presidential campaign funds, saying that the money available for the exercise could not have been anything near such amount.
The national publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that though he did not handle campaign funds and was, therefore, not sure of the exact amount made available, it could not have been in the region quoted by a report on Sunday.
The report had suggested that following the disappointing outcome of the presidential election, Jonathan had set up a committee to get those who were given the cash and could not deliver to refund the money.
Reacting to the claim, however, the PDP spokesman, who insisted that he would formally address the issue today, maintained that he was not aware that such money had been given out for campaign.
He added that whoever was in possession of the campaign money should account for it.
Metuh noted that he could not defend anybody over the unused campaign fund because he was not part of the campaign, saying "I have not confirmed, I don't know how they handled their money. I did not receive even N1,000 throughout the campaign.
"We never made any kind of budget like that. The party never made any request that we don't have funds. I'm not sure they handled such amount of money. It's not possible. But whatever they handled, I cannot speak on it."
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Speaking to State House correspondents in Abuja, on Sunday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, maintained that those behind the story were intent on causing crisis in the country.
He rejected the suggestion that President Jonathan had set up a five-man committee to probe the use of the funds.
“The front-page story of a national newspaper of April 19, alleging that the Presidency spent a whopping N2 trillion on the 2015 general election and that a committee of five has been set up by President Jonathan to conduct an audit of how the funds were disbursed by party members and state officials is mischievous, false and embarrassing.
"The president has not set up any committee as alleged in that story. It is also not true that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used state funds, or spent N2 trillion during the campaigns. The innuendoes are wrong-headed; the motives behind the story are suspicious.
"The story alleges, for example, that the Presidency spent N2 trillion on elections and embarked on a money-sharing spree to party members, support groups and state officials. The authors of the story and their self-appointed megaphones further insinuate that public funds were deployed in this regard. Their allegation of theft of public funds is extremely malicious.
"How much is the budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria? The annual budget of the Federal Government is a little over N4 trillion. The story is practically suggesting that half of the federal budget was spent on elections. This kind of reckless insinuation is meant to incite the public and instigate national crisis.
"With FAAC having to do everything possible every month to ensure disbursements and with the Federal Government heavily committed to the war against terror in the North-East, where is the alleged N2 trillion from the federal purse?
“President Jonathan and PDP conducted the 2015 elections in strict accordance with the rule of law. The suggestion of any unlawful conduct cannot be sustained under any circumstances.
"President Jonathan has done his best to protect and strengthen democracy and promote peace. He justly deserves all the accolades that he has received from both Nigerians and the international community for this. Certain persons and interest groups may not be happy that his profile has further risen and that his legacy is assured; but they do their country gross disservice when they act so unpatriotically.
"Anyone who is engaged in imposing a crisis on the country by any means is not being fair to Nigeria. We can only appeal to the public to be wary of such reckless tactics now on display, which form the substance of an odd, malicious campaign after the elections.
"We are particularly worried that since the March 28 and April 11 elections, some persons have continued to work very hard to diminish the Jonathan presidency. They need to be reminded that the time for politics is over; it is now time to focus on the in-coming government, with emphasis on national development and moving the country forward," he said.
Also reacting, the PDP cast doubt over claims that President Jonathan is demanding for a return of the sum of N2trillion unspent presidential campaign funds, saying that the money available for the exercise could not have been anything near such amount.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also cast doubt over claims that President Jonathan was demanding for a return of the sum of N2 trillion unspent presidential campaign funds, saying that the money available for the exercise could not have been anything near such amount.
The national publicity secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, told the Nigerian Tribune on Sunday that though he did not handle campaign funds and was, therefore, not sure of the exact amount made available, it could not have been in the region quoted by a report on Sunday.
The report had suggested that following the disappointing outcome of the presidential election, Jonathan had set up a committee to get those who were given the cash and could not deliver to refund the money.
Reacting to the claim, however, the PDP spokesman, who insisted that he would formally address the issue today, maintained that he was not aware that such money had been given out for campaign.
He added that whoever was in possession of the campaign money should account for it.
Metuh noted that he could not defend anybody over the unused campaign fund because he was not part of the campaign, saying "I have not confirmed, I don't know how they handled their money. I did not receive even N1,000 throughout the campaign.
"We never made any kind of budget like that. The party never made any request that we don't have funds. I'm not sure they handled such amount of money. It's not possible. But whatever they handled, I cannot speak on it."
Source
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