A deputy director in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Election Management Committee of Presidential Campaign Council PCC, Evangelist Mike Ikoku has alleged that the real reason Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha is using his media proxies to fight the director general of the PDP PCC in Imo State,Hon Greg Egu, is because he sees him as a stumbling block to his orchestrated plot to use the party’s presidential candidates election funds, to pursue his governorship ambition next year.
The PDP chieftain and media entrepreneur who is the deputy director NGO and Civil Societies in the council levelled the allegation in a chat with newsmen weekend, after a meeting of the council.
According to him, the ongoing deliberate campaign of falsehood, propaganda and blackmail being unleashed against Hon Egu, to the effect that he made away with funds meant for the PDP presidential rally in Owerri, even in the face of the resounding success of the presidential rally, is being driven by selfishness, greed and desperation on the part of Rt Hon Ihedioha to feast on money meant for prosecution of 2023 elections and not due to love for the party, or its presidential candidate.
Evangelist Ikoku alleged that the ex deputy speaker of the House of Representatives had planned to leverage the campaign funds of Alhaji Abubakar to oil his 2023 political machinery and share the balance to his cronies, as he did in 2019, but was grossly disappointed when that plot was truncated with the dissolution of his own handpicked PCC and replacement with the Hon Egu led team which emerged through majority consensus.
He noted that since that development Rt Hon Ihedioha had not been happy, and felt he could use the opportunity of the last rally to rubbish Hon Egu, so that the party’s presidential candidate and national leadership of the party will see him as incompetent and unfit for the job and sack him.
He, however argued that that plot has collapsed like a pack of cards because apart from recorded success of the 17 December, 2022 rally, the PCC DG and his team did their job of mobilization and disbursement of funds meant for logistics excellently and in the most transparent, accountable and legitimate manner.
Evangelist Ikoku said every single individual or group that collected money that day was cleared by Hon Ray Emeana Imo PDP Secretary who also doubles as the PCC Scribe before being paid by the council, even as he asserted that not only did the meeting where the disbursement template was designed held in Rt Hon Ihedioha’s house, he Ihedioha also personally presided over it.
He further alleged that after all efforts and schemes churned out by him to make the DG surrender the rally money to him and his camp failed to work, he unleashed thugs claiming to be representatives of the party in Owerri Municipal Council on him at the venue of the disbursement, adding that the DG was held hostage until he released the same amount he released to the accredited authorities from the council.
Apart from them, he reeled out some of the individuals and groups that collected mobilization money to include Collins Opuruzor State Publicity Secretary of PDP, who collected N2.7M, Hon Bonny Ebili N1M, Dr Ray Opara N2M for Clergy, Nze Law Biaduo N500K for Road Safety, Evans Williams N1M for Keke and Okada, Sir Chuma Nnaji, N1.7M for volunteers and Sir Martin Ejiogu N650k for decampees.
According to him, those were the few collectors who collected money from the disbursement team which included Hon Egu, deputy director finance committee, Chief Chibuike Achigbu, assistant director finance, Barr Bede Ojimadu and administrative secretary, Barr Gozie Nwachukwu, while assuring of the readiness and willingness of the DG to make full disclosure of names and signatures of all those who collected mobilization for the rally.
He made it categorically clear that it is not going to be business as usual in the management of 2023 presidential election campaign funds, as was witnessed in the management of the party’s presidential campaign funds in 2019 by those he appointed, and also the handling of the proceeds of funds realized from the primaries of the party during the recent primary elections process.
Evangelist Ikoku asserted that the council as led by Hon Egu was appointed to deliver Alhaji Atiku and all other candidates of the party in the February 25, 2023 general election, insisting that they are poised and focused on delivering on the task.
NIGERIA NEWSPOINT
