…Says, there was miscommunication
The National Chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, has beaten a tactical retreat over his earlier pronouncement and determination to probe past administrations of the party.
Ayu, in a statement by his media office, said that what he said during the presentation of the communique to the media was that he has not seen the books of the party or received any handover notes, and so cannot make any authoritative comment on any allegations.
The statement explained that it had become necessary to properly situate the statements credited to the in-coming national chairman within a factual context, stressing that a miscommunication is being propagated.
The statement further said; “Dr. Ayu’s attention has been drawn to numerous headlines in the dailies. They reported Ayu as saying the incoming National Working Committee (NWC) of the party will probe past administrations of the party.
It stated that Ayu works with facts and not hearsay, thus, urged members of the public to ignore any report to the contrary, adding that Ayu had in a communique pledged the readiness of his administration to look into the books of the party with a view to enthroning a culture of accountability and transparency in the running of party affairs.
Ayu’s earlier pledge came on the heels of a paper presented at the PDP retreat by Okwesilize Nwodo, a former national chairman of the party.
Nwodo had in what looked like a perusal at successive administrations, wondered what happened to the huge sums of money he handed over to Alhaji Mohammed Bello Haliru-led executive committee.
In his words; “I handed over N11 billion in fixed deposit and N800 million in current account when I left as national chairman after seven months. I did not see what was done with that money.
“Millions were raised to finish our national headquarters; we don’t seem to have a trace of where all that money went. Our headquarters is yet to be completed. Today we don’t even have a party account. We have to get back to strict monitoring of our party accounts.
“Our internal audit department needs to be strengthened and supported by the party leadership. Very strict sanctions must be imposed on the mismanagement of party funds.
“I suggest that we include inviting the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to probe erring officers and members and prosecution of those found culpable. This is the only way to create a deterrent,” he declared while presenting his paper.
In his swift reaction to the development, Ayu assured that the party under his watch would breathe the air of transparency and accountability.
