Osun Accord members protest unpaid N50m campaign fund

Governor Ademola Adeleke...Photo Credit: X/ Ademola Adeleke

Members and supporters of the Accord party in Osun State have accused party leaders of shortchanging them over the N50m mobilisation fund allegedly released for the recent PBAT Door-to-Door Movement programme in the state.

Sunday PUNCH gathered that the fund, earmarked for mobilising various support groups within the party, was allegedly not disbursed to many who participated in the programme.

One of the organisers of the event, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity on Saturday, disclosed that N100m was budgeted for mobilising different interest groups within the All Progressives Congress and Accord for the inauguration programme.

“I know that N50m was allocated to each of the two parties to mobilise their supporters,” he said.

However, an aide to Governor Ademola Adeleke, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being rebuked, said a support group he mobilised for the event had not received any money.

“Our support group was asked to mobilise members, but they haven’t received a kobo,” the aide stated.

Similarly, a member of the National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West, lamented that the students’ constituency had yet to receive any money despite mobilising members for the event.

The student leader, who declined to have his name in print, accused the Accord leadership of withholding the funds.

“The PBAT Door-to-Door rally was another eye-opener to the kind of selfish and greedy leaders we have in this so-called Accord. The organisers decided to split the mobilisation between the APC and Accord.”

“Till now, Accord leaders are yet to pay us, nor explain the reason for the delay,” he said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Osun State Coordinator of the PBAT Door-to-Door Movement, Timothy Olanrewaju, told Sunday PUNCH on Friday that the mobilisation funds had been disbursed.

He asked those protesting the alleged non-payment to hold their party leaders responsible, insisting that the money had been released to them.

“Those people protesting should hold their leaders responsible. The fund was released to them. I, as the central coordinator, was not even given any slot. My own mobilisation was also part of the APC slots.

“The calculations we made were N80,000 per bus and N10,000 for each person in an 18-seater bus. The 5,000 people we were expecting from Accord were not even up to that, if not for the extra mobilisation from our own end,” Olanrewaju disclosed.

However, the Accord chairman in the state, Pastor Victor Akande, said he was unaware of the development, adding that the money did not pass through him.

Akande, who spoke with our correspondent on Saturday, stressed that no party member had formally written to him to lodge a complaint.

“I am not aware of the funds. I wasn’t part of the committee. Also, if money was released, I believe those who mobilised ought to have received their money by now,” he stated.