Trouble in PDP over Afegbua’s N10b fraud allegation against Secondus

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has described as spurious and irresponsible, the allegation of fraud levelled against the party’s National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, by a party member, Prince Kasim Afegbua.

Afegbua yesterday filed a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) alleging N10 billion fraud against the PDP leadership.

In the said petition, Afegbua had asked the anti-graft agencies to look into the financial transactions of the Secondus-led PDP leadership, with a view to probing how N10 billion allegedly realised from the sale of nomination forms in the 2019 elections was spent.

The petitioner further alleged that the amount was lodged in a certain Morufu Nigeria Limited bank account by the party leadership.

But, reacting to the allegation, the PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, at a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, said there was no truth in the allegation.

According to him, the party realised N4.6 billion from the sale of nomination forms in 2019 and not N10 billion as alleged by Afegbua and that the PDP had submitted its audited account for the year to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as required by law.

Ologbondiyan said: “The PDP did not raise Afegbua’s fictitious sum of N10 billion as alleged by him. For the avoidance of doubt, the PDP generated the sum of N4.6 billion and raised a budget for its expenditure, in line with all known financial regulations of our party.

“This budget passed through the organs of our party and received the approvals from the NWC (National Working Committee), the Governors’ Forum, the Board of Trustees as well as other organs of the party…

“Moreover, the PDP has no account under the name or guise of Afegbua’s ghostly Morufu Nigeria Limited.” Nation