Also in the race are former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar; a former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; a former Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, and the only female presidential aspirant in the party, Teriela Oliver.
When asked to respond to the ongoing probe, the spokesman for the APC, Felix Morka, said he was in a meeting and promised to speak later. He had yet to respond to a text message sent to him on the issue as of the time of filing this report.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, declined comment, saying he was not aware of the EFCC investigation. “I’m not aware of it and I don’t want to comment on it,” he said on the telephone on Friday.
Tracking of campaign finances not a witch-hunt, says REC
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, Prof Abdulganiyu Raji, has said tracking the campaign finances of political parties by the commission is not a witch-hunt against any individual or group.
Speaking in Osogbo on Friday during a sensitisation workshop for political parties on campaign finance tracking ahead of the governorship election on July 16, Raji stated, “One of the mandates of INEC, apart from the conduct of elections, is to track the finances of political parties with a view to knowing how good they are faring as far as their finances are concerned, in addition to being able to assist them in planning their activities.
“Tracking the finances of political parties is not a witch-hunt. It is for better understanding of the financial activities of the parties. What we do is to track the campaign finances (inflow and outflow) and report to the appropriate quarters in INEC.”
The REC said the commission had earlier organised a similar training for some of its senior staff members in the state, adding, “Today, we are not tracking the finances of these political parties; we are actually taking them through the processes and procedures, and all the necessary techniques that they will need to track their own finances.
“While they are doing it on their own, we will also be doing our own independently. We at INEC submit our reports to the appropriate quarters, but for political parties, in addition to submitting their reports to us, they will also be able to use them for planning their activities. I believe that if they pay attention at the workshop, it will be of benefit to them.”
Raji added that the workshop was usually organised for political parties and candidates before every election.
