Ahead of the presidential primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former vice president, Abubakar Atiku, who is bidding to fly the party’s flag in next year’s presidential poll has donated an estimated N16.4million to the Katsina State chapter of the party.
The amount included the N50,000 he doled out to each of the state’s 208 delegates.
The presidential aspirant made the donation on Saturday when he visited Katsina State to lobby delegates in preparation for the party’s presidential primary election.
While speaking at the APC Secretariat in the state, Atiku said he viewed the APC in Katsina State as an orphan since the party is not in government.
He then announced the donation of N5 million to the state secretariat, N1 million to the elders of the party, and N50,000 each to the 208 delegates.
His words, “APC in Katsina State is an orphan. I said this because it is not in government. I have seen the condition of the secretariat; so in my capacity as one of the elders of the party, I give the party secretariat N5 million, the elders N1 million and the delegates N50,000 each”
The former Vice President, who expressed confidence in winning the primary election, stressed that “the time for consensus has gone, because it is too late for the process of consensus.”
He asserted that the best thing for the party was to go for the primaries.
In his response, the Katsina State APC chairman, Dr Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa, extolled the virtues of the former vice president, pointing out that “Nigeria needs the likes of Atiku”.
It will be recalled that the Katsina State chapter of APC endorsed General Muhammadu Buhari in recent past for the party’s presidential ticket.
While it is argued in some quarters that it was wrong for an aspirant to promise money to delegates, Garba Shehu, the media representative of the former Vice President justified the donations made by Atiku in Katsina, stressing that “all party leaders, including Atiku, make contributions to party development and this is more compelling in states where the party does not have control of the government.”
He added that, “donations to party are routine. There is no scandal in that, especially for someone like him, who is not dipping his hands in government treasury to get the money.”
Shehu further revealed that the presidential aspirant “makes donation of a standard sum of N5million for the running of the party in all non-APC-controlled states that he visits. These donations are announced publicly at the meetings which take place at party offices. In some states, they get assistance to buy buses or furniture items for their offices. Some party branches do not even have offices, and they call on party leaders to help, and the Turaki as much as possible pays his dues to the party”.
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