Recently, while giving the account of the party’s election spending, the fundraising team for the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation disclosed that ₦744,500,000 was spent on litigation following Obi’s loss in the 2023 presidential election.
Aisha Yesufu, the chairman of the fundraising team, said the LP received donations totalling ₦596m from the party supporters and the Obidient movement in Nigeria and abroad.
“Accountability and transparency are very critical and important. We raised ₦595,976,994 in donations through four financial institutions, including Zenith Bank and Heritage Bank. We also received ₦800m from the candidate (Obi). Although some money came in one week to the election, so many people and vendors put so much into the campaign without demanding payment, Yesufu said.
For the post-election litigations, she said “We deployed ₦744,500,000 to cover legal expenses. We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness.”
However, the amount quoted for election lawsuits sparked controversy as many Nigerians interpreted it as the amount the campaign team paid the lawyers employed for the election suit.
Reacting to this, the campaign team in a statement signed by Yinusa Tanko, the spokesman of the Obi-Datti Campaign Committee, on Thursday, February 22, 2024, said the reported ₦744,500,000 was not just for paying lawyers.
Tanko said the ₦744.5 million was a general expenditure on legal services, which according to him included research, accommodations, transportation, local and international flights, and stationery for various documents.
“We want to correct the erroneous impression in the media space that the legal expenses of ₦744,500,000.00 were legal fees to lawyers. This is far from the truth.
“The legal fee to our lawyers remains a personal thing but our compound expenses on legal matters cannot be tied to lawyers. Also involved in this sum are research, accommodations, transportation local and international flights, and stationery of our various documents,” the campaign team said.
The team explained that legal expenses are different from legal fees.
“Legal expenses encompass all the things concerning our legal cases, ranging from pre-election to post-election legal processes.
“The filing of cases before elections, on matters involving our candidate, transmitting and photocopying of legal documents, bringing experts from overseas during our post-election legal battles, and their accommodation all form the legal expenses,” the team said.
The team added that the amount also covered the funding of lawyers sent to states to collect electoral materials from INEC state offices and financial assistance to some of the candidates of the party who had legal issues.
