How Adamu starved Tinubu, APC candidates of funds during polls — Lukman, Nat’l V-Chair

The leadership crisis in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, assumed a new twist, yesterday, following revelations by its National Vice Chairman (North-West), Salihu Moh. Lukman, that the National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, willfully refused to extend financial support to President Bola Tinubu and all candidates of the party in the lead-up to the 2023 general election

At a briefing in Abuja, Lukman, who has been vociferous in asking Adamu to render a financial account of the party, noted that the party made over N30 billion from the sale of forms, yet it never supported any of its candidates.

Lukman was reacting to two separate television interviews granted by Adamu and the National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, in which the two chieftains accused him of being a nonentity and black sheep in the party.

His words: “We are expected to present a proposed national budget to the National Executive Committee, NEC, for approval by the provisions of Article 13(3A)(14) of the APC constitution.

‘’I felt embarrassed when I heard the National Secretary (Omisore) say the budget of the party has been sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

‘’INEC is not the approving authority of the budget of the APC. The approving authority is the NEC. Till today, we don’t have a national budget. Yet we made over N30 billion from sales of forms.

‘’Till date, as a member of the NWC and majority members of the NWC, maybe except for the Financial Secretary, Treasurer and or the Auditor, who may have inside knowledge of how much was expended on the renovation of the national secretariat of the party, we do not know what is being expended.

Question of funding not addressed

“Talking of national budget, we are just coming out of elections where we were not able to sustain past precedence. What was the past precedence? Under Comrade Adams Oshiomhole in 2019, every candidate of the party received something from the national secretariat.

Source: VANGUARD