PDP Secretary Reveals Party Chieftains Spent $37M to Rig Fayose into Office

After nearly one year since the Nigerian online news platform, SaharaReporters broke the news of Ekitigate scandal, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Secretary in Ekiti State, Dr TK Aluko, has revealed how Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, together with former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro and others, used more than $35 million (N4.7 billion) from arms funds disbursed from the Office of the National Security Adviser, to rig elections. Aluko has intimate knowledge of the Ekiti State election because he was Mr. Fayose’s Chief Returning Officer. He disclosed that plotting to rig the Ekiti gubernatorial election for Mr. Fayose began as early as March 23rd, 2014, when former President Goodluck Jonathan ordered Anambra state politician, Chris Uba to release $2 million to Fayose, following the primary election in Ekiti state. “Fayose knew from the beginning of his gubernatorial ambition that he wanted to use the military and funding from the presidency to rig the election. He had much of the idea already in his mind,” Aluko added.