The Labour Party (LP) candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Mr Peter Obi has said a total sum of N1,395,976,994 was expended by the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation for the electioneering and post-election litigations.
The breakdown of the figure showed that the sum of N595, 976, 984, was received from Nigerians who contributed to the campaign project, while Obi supported the election with N800 million personal contribution.
The candidate at a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, however, appealed to various support groups, individuals and parties that received funding to support the campaign, to account to those they received it from.
According to him, “Because there are some people, like support groups, there are some people even abroad who collected monies that they are going to use it in the North and everywhere.
“We were not stringent that everything you collect must come to us, but we want whatever is collected to be accounted for. This is why we are appealing to the public to let us know.”
The former Anambra State governor who spoke on the allegation of financial impropriety against the Julius Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, demanded a thorough investigation into the allegation.
The now suspended National Treasurer Ms Oluchi Oparah, had accused Abure of mismanaging N3.5 billion raised from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising activities, in the build-up to the 2023 general election.
But Obi who appeared at the press conference with the Chairman of the Fundraising Team of the Campaign Organisation Mrs Aisha Yesufu, said he had discussed with the party leadership to appoint a reputable audit firm to audit the party’s account.
“When I am involved in money, it must be transparent. So the allegations and counter allegations now must be thoroughly investigated and verified and we would reconcile it and know what exactly to do,” he said.
Mrs Yesufu who gave a breakdown of the party’s spending during the campaign, the campaign organisation “designed a strategic blueprint focused on channelling the movement energy and support for Peter Obi and Datti Ahmed with different support groups.
“We provided direct and indirect support to over a hundred support groups across all 36 states in Nigeria.
According to her, the campaign organisation “deployed media-related campaigns that reached over 11 million people, leveraging over 40 radio stations, community outreach, and social media.”
She however said they could not use television stations and other communication channels because of financial constraints.
“We were mindful of being judicious in our usage of the funds that we received,” she added.
Yesufu further disclosed that the sum of N258,374,330 was spent to procure campaign materials, which were distributed across the 36 states and Abuja.
“Media and radio broadcasting was at the cost of N16,432,867.
“For the election promotion expenses, we had N10,808,948.00. For polling unit agents, we spent N324,381,700.00. And then, of course, we had bank charges of N1,750,544.00.
“We also had administrative charges of N477,000. We deployed N744,500,000 to cover legal expenses. And then, in campaign and election activities, we had over N28,500,000.
“Accountability and transparency are critical; that is why we asked people to donate so that we could come back to them to explain how their money was judiciously used. We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness,” she said.
