Goodluck Jonathan Demands N2trn ($11bn) Election Campaign Funds Refund, Audit

In Lagos, a popular PDP chieftain who lost in his polling booth reportedly received $50m in cash a few days before the governorship elections N20bn each given to some key ministers and senior special advisers, especially in states where the PDP hoped to capture from the opposition Some pro-Jonathan support groups received about N16bn each “Please understand me, I am saying that the sum of $150m was just for the governorship election in Lagos. We are not talking about the sums they got for the presidential election. Only one out of the five people that shared the money gave some of it to local government chairmen.
This person disbursed about N2bn. The rest of them sat on the money.
Following the defeat suffered by President Goodluck
Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party,
during the March 28 and April 11 elections, the President
has asked the party and government officials who handled
campaign funds to refund monies not spent, or those not
judiciously expended, SUNDAY PUNCH can authoritatively
report.
Jonathan, credible sources said, has also set up a committee
of five to get those with the funds to return them.
Sources within the party and government told our
correspondents that President Jonathan was disturbed that
despite giving campaign coordinators, ministers, special
advisers, close aides and friends, support groups and
traditional rulers over N2trn in cash, most of them could not
deliver their polling booths and local governments.
The President was said to have been further irked by the
results of an investigation he ordered. The probe showed
that some coordinators used campaign funds to buy very
expensive properties, especially in Abuja, and luxury cars.
Some of the funds have also been traced to the bank
accounts of senior party and government officials who were
charged with the disbursement of funds to voters and
groups.
A reliable source within the Presidency told our
correspondents that one of the President, who recently
admitted to a few close aides that it would be difficult to
retrieve all the funds, was bent on getting senior party and
government officials who received funds to account for all
monies collected.
The source who is a close associate of the president said
monies given to traditional rulers in different parts of the
country, for example, would not be demanded for. But the
source was quick to add that the President was determined
to get his ministers, close aides and special advisers to make
refunds.
He said, “Some ministers did not get less than N20bn each.
None of them can deny it because this fact isn’t hidden
within government circles. The only problem with such
monies is that there is no receipt to show that they collected
money. The sad part is that almost all of them performed
woefully. Even in the states where the PDP won, some
ministers could not deliver 100,000 votes. They could not
mobilise their people to come out. The President is not
happy. They all went property and car shopping. This was
the most expensive election in the history of this country, yet
there was no result.
“The sad part was that even after the President lost on
March 28, more money was given to all of them to make up
for the dismal outing by winning their states during the April
11 elections. But that turned out to be a bad decision
because apart from losing the governorship election, we
didn’t perform well at the National Assembly and House of
Representatives polls.
“They must give an account of the money since they didn’t
use it for the election. The President is not particular about
the funds spent on genuine campaign needs like the hiring
of jets, advertisements and the rest that also cost billions of
naira. His focus is on the individuals that collected billions to
deliver their states but couldn’t even win their polling
booths.”
Our correspondents gathered that apart from the N20bn
given to some key ministers and senior special advisers,
especially in states where the PDP hoped to capture from the opp