Delegates reject Osinbajo’s N2m ($5000) cash gift for Tinubu’s N10.4m ($25,000) at APC Convention

Delegates from Ogun state have allegedly rejected N2m ($5,000) cash gifts offered by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo for N10.4m offered by Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the ongoing presidential primaries of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja.

According to a report The Gazette, five separate candidates interviewed said they were offered American banknotes to support Tinubu and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The delegate who provided the information under anonymity to avoid being accused of anti-party conduct that could carry severe disciplinary measures stated that at least each of them has received N10.4m ($25,000).  

The Ogun delegates said Tinubu’s team gave them N10.4m ($25,000) each to induce his acceptance as the party’s presidential flag-bearer tonight, while Adamawa delegates said they received $10,000 each from Tinubu’s surrogates. 

A delegate said; “Ashiwaju’s people came here and they said we should support him because he has the best chance to defeat Atiku Abubakar. “Then they said they didn’t come empty-handed.” 

However, the Ogun delegates said they rejected N2m ($5,000) from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s surrogates. 

“The vice-president’s people initially said he didn’t have any money to give and advised everyone to vote their conscience,” a delegate said. “But suddenly they came back to say he wanted to give us $5,000 to support our transportation and hotel accommodation,” a delegate said.

The delegates admitted they rejected the money because it was smaller than what Tinubu offered. It was said that offer was perhaps the biggest among the contenders for the ticket.

However, we were unable to clarify how much other aspirants have offered delegates.

At least five aspirants are believed to remain in the race amidst intense horsetrading. Rotimi Amaechi, Kayode Fayemi, David Umahi, BolaTinubu and Yemi Osinbajo are said to be on a shortlist of governors.

One of them may be announced later today as the favourite, although President Muhammadu Buhari has acquiesced to elective primary after weeks of doubling down on a consensus arrangement.

This development is similar to what happened during the opposition party’s presidential primary exercise where each delegates were said to have received nothing less than $15,000.

Although, the issue of vote buying have been highly condemned by politicians, it seems to just be a mere condemnation that do not hold any water.

The APC certified 2,322 delegates to vote at the primary, with 248 allotted to Ogun while Adamawa got 184. Factors including the availability of delegates often contribute to how much will be paid on a state-by-state basis. For instance, delegates in states with incumbent APC governors, like Ogun, will be more difficult to secure than in states like Adamawa, which does not have an incumbent APC governor.