‘APC Doesn’t Have Money, Couldn’t Do What PDP Did’ – Okechukwu Makes Excuses For ₦8.9 Billion Debt

The former Director General of the Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has asserted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is currently facing a financial shortfall.

He made this statement while explaining the reasons behind the APC’s accumulation of a debt totalling ₦8.9 billion.

It is important to note that the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, revealed on Wednesday that he inherited this ₦8.9 billion debt from his predecessor upon assuming office.

Ganduje shared this information during a meeting of the APC National Executive Committee (NEC) held in Abuja.

He indicated that the debt was primarily incurred due to expenses related to pre-election legal disputes, election-related cases, and appeals concerning legislative, gubernatorial, and presidential elections.

Ganduje remarked, “The current National Working Committee (NWC) has inherited debts and legal obligations amounting to ₦8,987,874,663, resulting from various legal engagements.”

The meeting was attended by notable figures, including President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker of the House of Representatives Tajudeen Abbas, state governors, NWC members, and other prominent party leaders.

In contrast, Okechukwu emphasized that the substantial debt was a result of prolonged legal battles over the years.

Featuring on Arise Television’s programme, Morning Show, Okechukwu said: “On why we accumulated debts, that’s very simple, from day one – this same president Tinubu established a biometric registration quartered in Lagos.

“We were only able to do Anambra in 2013 with that machine, when this information got to the then president Jonathan, he instructed the Department of State Services to close it down.

“Since that closedown ruptured our plans to have a biometric membership seamlessly and that could have met with one of the conditions in our constitution that members should have some tokens to contribute.

“If those tokens were done, we could not have been owing because we are now bedevilled in a situation.

“The debt came from outstanding legal fees, we didn’t do what PDP used to do while in the presidency, they were taxing ministers. We don’t have money.”