The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has said that the N100 million collected from the People Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 was to base on political alliance to prosecute former president Goodluck Jonathan’s re-election bid.
The party, however, defended its national chairman, Chief Olu Falae, of reports that he singlehandedly collected the money which is being linked to the scandal at office of the National Security Adviser.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja Thursday, SDP national publicity secretary, Alhaji Alfa Mohammed, said contrary to the made believe, “it was not Chief Olu Falae but the SDP which had a working agreement with the PDP during the last presidential election of 2015, such an agreement is normal in a democracy.”
The party while raising alarm of plot by some chieftains of ruling APC in Ondo state to arrest Chief Falae ahead Ondo governorship election, SDP called on president Muhammadu Buhari to call his men to order.
According to SDP spokesman, Chief Olu Falae, in his capacity as the national chairman did summon the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting and informed the party that Chief Tony Anenih, in his capacity as the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the PDP had visited him in his house at Akure to request for a working electoral arrangement with the SDP towards the 2015 Presidential election.
He explained that: “on receipt of the PDP contribution on March 25 2015, the Central Working Committee further requested that the National Chairman should further transfer a sum of N66.150million to the account of the national secretariat of the party for disbursement to various state chapters of the SDP for prosecuting the elections. A disbursement committee was setup to effect the disbursement according to identified needs of the states.
SDP therefore recalled that in 2007, ” Chief Olu Falae was the National Chairman of Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). In that year’s general election, while other parties in the country did not support General Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the DPA under the leadership of Chief Falae adopted Genera Buhari as its Presidential candidate since the DPA had no presidential candidate of its own.
“It is on record that the DPA made financial contributions of about N20million to Buhari’s campaign in the South West which was championed and led by Chief Olu Falae. If that did not constitute a crime or offence to warrant investigations then, inter-party electoral cooperation in 2015 can neither be novel nor constitute a crime.”
