Following a report published by this newspaper recently, about the unscrupulous activities of some top government officials in the State who have been extorting money from Chairmanship and Councilorship aspirants in the guise of facilitating their emergence as candidates for their respective wards and local government areas on the platform of the All Progressive Congress APC, a lawmaker from Orlu zone (name withheld) who collected the sum of two million Naira (#2) from a Councilorship aspirant is said to have refunded the money.
According to a close family source who does not want his name in print, the lawmaker in question who has previously been involved in several controversies that border on dishonesty, fraud and related offenses, was quoted as saying that, there was no way he could influence the list of successful candidates, which according to him was prepared by the Governor and those he gave specific instructions on what to do. The lawmaker was also quoted as saying that the Councilorship aspirant whose money he refunded also hails from the same ward with him. Hence, his deep concern about the failed ransaction.
It was also gathered that before the #2m was paid for the deal, there was a meeting between the traditional ruler of the aspirant’s community, the aspirant himself and the lawmaker, where it was agreed that the aspirant should pay the #2m into the lawmaker’s account to avoid any trace and quarrels that may arise from denials, if any. The lawmaker was also said to have told the aspirant that, by virtue of his position as a legislator, he was given six slots to fill, at the rate of #2m each. The money according to him, will be used to settle some top government officials whose interests must always be protected.
Meanwhile, investigation by Nigeria Watchdog Newspaper, indicates that there was no such arrangement between the party, and the lawmakers, as claimed by the lawmaker who claimed that part of the #2m he collected from the aspirant would be used to settle some government functionaries.
