Gbenga Daniel, Doyin Okupe, Segun Seriki Cornered N500m, 100 Transformers Meant for 2015 Election-PDP Chair

Engineer Bayo Dayo is the Chairman, Ogun state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview with CityMirrorNews, he makes shocking revelation on the amount of resources dispensed by the PDP to win the 2015 general elections. He also accused former Governor of Ogun state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, former Senior Special Assistant to former President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe and the Ogun state Coordinator of Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organization, Hon. Segun Seriki of embezzling N500m meant for 2015 general election. Excerpt!

How do you feel on the recent court verdicts on election tribunal cases as they affect the PDP candidates?

We still have hope in the judiciary and I must say that we-the PDP are happy about the Supreme Court judgments as they affect our governorship candidates all over the country. It shows that the president that we have is not a bias President. The man-Muhammadu Buhari is the man of the people and he does not tamper with justice. Of course, we know that many of our people in PDP are being harassed here and there by EFCC, but we know that a lot of what is happening did is not from Mr President but from some people who are actually working to satisfy and pay eye-service to the president. As a matter of fact, we know that if Mr President was interested in the election cases against the PDP governors, he would show interest, which would affect the outcome of the case. But the president did not do. I am very happy for our governors in Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross-Rivers state whose electoral victories have been affirmed by the Supreme Court. We are all happy about the outcome of the Supreme Court verdicts.

How would you react to various controversial issues in the Nigerian Senate?

The National Assembly issue is embarrassing, particularly as it affects the presidency. Look at the budget proposal by Mr President; we are being fed with series of stories on the budget. There was a time that the budget was said to be missing; later we held the budget had been replaced and altered. Now we are on Senate President Bukola Saraki’s issue at the Code of Conduct Tribunal. Saraki is being tried for declaring false asset when he was the governor of Kwara state. This is an issue that happened some years ago. Why does the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal refused to call all other governors between the 2003 and 2011 who were Saraki’s colleagues then on the same issue? The governors that declared their assets eight-ten years ago are supposed to be called too. Why are they (CCT) trying only Saraki? Is he the only governor that lied in the Code of Conduct form? Most of the governor lied while filling the form because they don’t want us to know what they actually have. After leaving the office too, they cannot also tell us what they have acquired because they might have looted the treasures of their various states. It is not only Saraki that is guilty of this! If they want to investigate those that did not comply with the Code of Conduct Tribunal Declarations, they should start from all the (former) governors, dating back from 1999. It is only then that we can say they have a good case on all of them. They cannot single out Saraki for trial simply because he emerged as the senate president. The emergence of Saraki as the Senate President hurt the APC leadership. APC leaders did not want Saraki to emerge, but it is the Senators that decided who to lead them. I was there on the election day at the floor of the senate. Saraki was duly elected. Now, they want to punish Saraki for emerging as the Senate president. That is what the CCT case is all about. Saraki has not done anything unusual; what he being accused of is what many governors are doing up till now. Why going back to his CCB form of eight-ten years ago, why not looking at the form he filled as a senator? Something is fishing! The Nigerian people will not allow any of our elected officers to be rubbished just because he has offended some powerful groups in APC. Nigerians will not accept any winch-hunt and we will do everything within our right to support Senator Bukola Saraki.

There seems to be cracks in the wall of PDP in Ogun state, how are you addressing the issue?

Dayo: PDP in Ogun state is perfectly intact, despite that we have groups within the party. In every political party, you have group. We have different groups in Ogun PDP. What some people (members of PDP) don’t know is that PDP is your house. When you say because you are having issues with some people in the party and you decide to assist the other party in getting to power against the PDP, you are not helping yourself. That is what some people in PDP are doing!

N500m was sent to the Ogun PDP for the 2015 general election, the money was taking by the Ogun state Coordinator of President Goodluck Jonathan, Hon. Segun Seriki. The N500m was taking to OGD’s (Otunba Gbenga Daniel) house where they shared it. The money was not used for the election. They cornered the money as used it for themselves-OGD, Segun Seriki, Doyin Okupe. Senator Buruji Kasamu went to OGD to ask about the money and he was given five per cent of it for the election. It was kasamu that sponsored the 2015 election and other leaders of the PDP, including our governorship candidate then, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka (GNI). We have it on record how the money was collected because they collected it from bank and they signed for it. Aside the N500m, 100 transformers was also given to them to be distributed to various communities in Ogun state. Those transformers were sold; they were not given to anybody. I will petition the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) to ask what they do with the transformers. People are saying PDP did not perform well here and there, if 100 transformers were distributed to 100 communities in Ogun state, it would have enhanced the output of the PDP in the last election. But that did not happen! And if you ask OGD, he will be saying ‘I am eight years governor, I am this; I am that. If you are that important and credible, will you take 100 transformers together with the coordinator and get rid of them in another state other than Ogun state? We did not get a single transformer in Ogun state from the 100 given to us.

The transformer was given to us by ‘national’. Ogun state was not the only one that collected the transformers. Each state of the federal was given 100 transformers each. Oloye Jumoke Akinjide collected the transformer for Oyo PDP and she distributed them. Our own people did not give us a single transformer here. The Ogun PDP set up disciplinary committee on the matter to know what actually went wrong. Segun Seriki was invited more than three times but he did not turn up. At the end of the day, a recommendation came to the party that he should be expelled from PDP. This is because by the time we write petition to EFCC and he is being tried, people will not say we are writing a petition against our member, it will be a petition against Segun Seriki. He is the one that actually collected all the money and the transformer. The party has accordingly expelled Segun Seriki and a copy of the suspension letter has been sent to National Secretariat, and I can tell you that Seriki is no longer a member of our party in Ogun state. We are also going to work on Doyin Okupe and OGD at the appropriate time.

I am still going to write a petition to the EFCC to investigate and know where the transformers are located. These are the people that are forming a group and looking for money to fund the group. If you are an eight years governor, why would you not have money to fund you group? But they are looking up to money from Abuja to fund their group. I don’t even know where the N500 million came from, maybe it is part of the money they (Federal Government) are looking for. But EFCC will investigate the transformer issue at the appropriate time. PDP in Ogun state is preparing well ahead of 2019, but it is too early for anybody to be agitating for election office. We do not know may be we are going to be alive till then. Why should someone be running around then? We are three years away to 2019, why would somebody be running around now? It is too early to do that in my opinion. PDP under the leadership of Senator Buruji Kasamu is intact and we are doing everything humanly possible to make sure that PDP come to power in 2019.