Senator Iyorchia Ayu, the national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), has spoken out following accusations that he offered the National Working Committee (NWC) millions of dollars in exchange for his quiet.
This comes after a few PDP NWC members refunded more than N100 million that the party had deposited into their accounts.
According to a media source, Ayu allegedly put more than N100 million as a bribe into the accounts of NWC members after the party’s primaries.
According to the report, Ayu transferred the funds from the more than N10 billion that PDP earned from the selling of nomination forms.
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The National Vice Chairman (South-West), Olasoji Adagunodo, the Deputy National Chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja, the National Vice Chairman (South), Dan Orbih, and the National Women Leader, Stella Affah-Attoe, are among the NWC members that returned the funds to the party.
However, it was learned that some NWC members had begun sending the party varying sums of money.
According to the reports, Arapaja received N36 million, while Orbih and Effah-Attoe each received N28.8 million.
Orbih revealed that he received a payment notification from his bank without any further explanation in a letter addressed to Ayu and the other party.
Orbih refuted allegations that NWC members were given a N28 million bribe to cover up egregious financial misconduct.
Additionally, he asserted that the NWC members were not informed by the national chairman of the monies deposited into their accounts until it was covered by the media.
Ayu responded to the news by denying that he had given the order for money to be deposited into PDP NWC members’ accounts.
Simon Imobo-Tswam, who was speaking with The Punch through his media assistant, adding that he had not read the letters that the concerned PDP NWC members had sent.
We haven’t seen the letters, he said. I am unable to comment at this time.