APC Spent Billions To Win Elections In 2019 – Oshiomhole Confesses

Former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has opened up on how the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Working Committee (NWC)-led leadership spent billions to secure victory in some states during the 2019 general elections.

Oshiomhole disclosed that the NWC spent a sum of N1.6 billion to prosecute and win the governorship elections in Kwara and Ogun states.

He said that the party was also instrumental to Hope Uzodimma’s emergence as governor of Imo State.

The former governor made the revelation at a book launch, ‘APC and Transition Politics,’ authored by the party’s former vice chairman, North-West, Salihu Moh Lukman, in Abuja yesterday.

The former labour leader also stated that the party under his watch refunded money, totalling N220 million, which other candidates contributed to contest against the incumbent Kwara governor, adding that it was in line with the declaration of a must-fight and win battle in Kwara.

Oshiomhole equally revealed that his leadership doled out N20 million and N10 million each to the senatorial and House of Representatives candidates, respectively, to bankroll their campaign and elections, emphasising that the financial support were all grants not loans.

According to him, “To my credit, which Lukman refused to comment on, when I became chairman of the APC, I felt that party supremacy should go beyond giving people a platform. It is on record that some governors were to fund, through contributions, the states where we don’t have APC governors.

“Our NWC for which I am proud, took the APC money, no governor contributed a dime to us, and managed our resources without going cap in hand. We summoned the CBN governor to inform him that the governors have reneged on their promise to support states where we don’t have governors.

“We sent almost N800 million to reinforce the Otoge agenda, and I am happy that we wiped out the Saraki political dynasty. It was not a loan but a grant from the APC treasury. We even refunded the N220 million that other candidates contributed to contest against the current governor because for us, it was a battle that must be fought and won because we must put our money where we are putting our mouth.

“In Ogun, the governor who was rebelling against the party thought that he would use money, but we raised N800 million from the APC account to support that governor and I am happy that he won.

“We supported Hope Uzodimma, and I was happy that he won. All of them got between N500 million to N600 million. We also gave in Taraba, but somehow, we lost that one. I want to say that Lukman never amplified the APC that contributed money to support candidates running elections on its platform.

“We supported all the 109 senatorial candidates with N20 million each to support their campaign. Every member of the House of Representatives, numbering 360, including the then Speaker, got N10 million each to support their campaign.”

Justifying the party’s action, Oshiomhole said: “We did it so that when we say party supremacy, they know that we are not only giving them money, we did not only campaign for them, we also funded them. Lukman never found space to write any of these innovations.”