From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied raising N6.5 trillion to sway electorate to vote for its presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
It equally described as ridiculous, claims in a document that obscene amounts of money was also voted for “outright vote-buying; compromising Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) staff; security operatives; judicial officers and other officials.”
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, the party denied neither authoring nor owning any such document, and it did not emanate from the party.
“The attention of the APC has been drawn to a document in circulation described as ‘leaked APC 2023 Election Document’.
“Mischievously, the document alleged that our party has voted N6.5 trillion to fund schemes aimed at swaying the electorate to support and vote for the party and its presidential candidate in 2023.
“Ridiculously, too, the document alleged that obscene amounts of money have been voted for outright vote-buying; compromising INEC staff; security operatives; judicial officers and other officials.
“The APC wishes to place firmly on record that the document is not of the party. We neither authored nor own any such document, and it certainly did not emanate from our party.
“Indubitably, the document is the handiwork of very sick elements of the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in a desperate quest for unmerited electoral advantage by attempting to smear our party with wrong doing.
“In their zealous attempt to mudsling, the document’s authors senselessly alleged that our party proposes to apply nearly half of the country’s entire 2022 budget to buy votes. How, in the world does a government operating a national budget of N17 trillion dole out N6.5 trillion to rig elections? It clearly betrays the authors’ extreme ignorance of the complexity of the systems and processes for the appropriation and utilisation of state funds.
“Our party is focused on delivering the dividends of democracy to Nigerians in hope that they will reciprocate by supporting and voting for our candidates in 2023 elections. We are a law-abiding party and have no need to engage in any fraud and electoral malpractice suggested in that worthless document.
“Only a party that is a masterful looter of the national treasury can even imagine another capable of engaging in the kinds of atrocious acts the document suggests. We urge Nigerians to disregard the document as sleazy propaganda for which the PDP has gained notoriety,” APC said in the statement.