A member of the National Executive Committee (NEC), Chief Chinemerem Madu, however, asserted that a national deputy chairman orchestrated a N28 million bribe for a specific NEC member in order to block the campaign council’s activities.
According to Madu, several NEC members received bribe offers totaling N28 million in order to sabotage the campaign.
An anonymous PDP national vice chairman was allegedly the plot’s arrowhead in Madu’s remarks to media on the sidelines of the inauguration.
He claimed the vice chairman tried to recruit him into the purported conspiracy, but he rejected his advances.
Additionally, Madu claimed that the arrowhead had shown him that the scheme was being funded by individuals and organizations opposed to Atiku and Ayu.
The NEC member also claimed that one aspect of the scheme involved the recipients of the bribe starting and maintaining a negative media campaign against Ayu and Atiku.
Madu said: “Members of the PDP are alerted to furtive moves by a compromised national vice chairman and a couple of NEC members to derail our presidential campaign and scuttle the deserving victory of our presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, at the 2023 general elections.
“This national vice chairman and his cohorts who confessed to have been heavily bankrolled, are approaching and offering members of NEC sums ranging from N25 million to N28 million each to address a damaging press conference with fabrications aimed at derailing the presidential campaign.
”The said national vice chairman had approached me personally as a member of NEC to inform me of plots to orchestrate a heavily funded press conference to be addressed by select NEC members seemingly calling for the resignation of the National Chairman, Sen. Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, but actually targeted at frustrating the Atiku Abubakar’s presidential bid.
“He pointedly confessed to me that the demands and agitation of his group have not been against the party chairman, as the public has been made to believe, but against Atiku Abubakar.
“He also vowed that nothing will assuage the group, which is now bent on derailing the PDP presidential campaign.”
According to Madu, the plot’s execution was intended to happen after the inauguration and the start of the presidential campaign.
