Presidency denies spending N2trn on 2015 general elections

The presidency has described as embarrassing and mischievous a media report suggesting it spent the sum of N2 trillion on the 2015 general elections.

It also denied the claim by the report that President Goodluck Jonathan had set up a five-man committee to conduct an audit of how the funds were disbursed by party members and state officials.
According to leadership report..

A statement issued by special adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati, described the report as mischievous, false and embarrassing. It pointed to the size of the country’s entire annual budget and wondered how anybody could allege that as much as a half of the sum was spent on the elections..

Abati said: “The president has not set up any committee as alleged in that story. It is also not true that the presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) used state funds, or spent N2 trillion during the campaigns. The innuendoes are wrong-headed; the motives behind the story are suspicious.

“The story alleges, for example, that the presidency spent N2trillion on elections and embarked on a money-sharing spree to party members, support groups and state officials. The authors of the story and their self-appointed megaphones further insinuate that public funds were deployed in this regard. Their allegation of a theft of public funds is extremely malicious.

“How much is the budget of the Federal Government of Nigeria? The annual budget of the federal government is a little over N4 trillion. The story is practically suggesting that half of the federal budget was spent on elections. This kind of reckless insinuation is meant to incite the public and instigate national crisis”.

The presidency expressed worry that since the 2015 polls, some persons have continued to work very hard to diminish the Jonathan presidency and asked them to focus on something else more worthwhile.

“They need to be reminded that the time for politics is over; it is now time to focus on the in-coming government, with emphasis on national development and moving the country forward”, Abati added.

The statement made available to LEADERSHIP yesterday evening further queried: “With FAAC having to do everything possible every month to ensure disbursements and with the federal government heavily committed to the war against terror in the North East, where is the alleged N2 trillion from the federal purse?

“President Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party conducted the 2015 elections in strict accordance with the rule of law. The suggestion of any unlawful conduct cannot be sustained under any circumstances.”

He noted that President Jonathan had done his best to protect and strengthen democracy and promote peace, so he deserves all the accolades he has received from both Nigerians and the international community for this.