HURIWA Urges EFCC to Probe APC Chairman, Adamu over N20bn Party Funds

Alex Enumah in Abuja 

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been urged to probe the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu, over alleged misuse of the party’s finances to the tune of over N20 billion barely six months since he got into office.

The call made by a civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), was predicated on recent protest by unpaid workers at the party’s secretariat, who accused the party chairman of corruption.

In a statement by HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, the APC chairman was also reported to have approved a four-year housing and vehicle allowances for himself and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party on the alleged claim that he (Adamu) knows he can’t stay long in that secretariat.

Citing newspaper report, HURIWA claimed that over N39 billion was made from the sale of forms at the recent APC’s national convention, adding that within the space of six months, the party leadership has spent over N20 billion out of it.

The statement dated October 30, 2022, further accused Adamu of also replacing directors at the party’s secretariat to allegedly covered his tracks, hiding under sanitizing the system.

“HURIWA calls on anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the allegations of fraud running into billions including payments of four-year upfront allowance by the APC.

“A former Director of Administration of the party, Abubakar Suleiman, publicly accused Adamu of being economical with the truth when he said the Mai Mala Buni administration did not owe N7.5bn as claimed by Adamu, stating that all arrears were cleared before Adamu took over.

“This alleged scam is similar to the version of the Peoples Democratic Party where members of the National Working Committee of the party indicted the PDP National Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu of gross corruption by returning N122.4 million alleged bribe which the party limply defended as housing allowance.

“The fraud within both parties must never be buried under the carpet of impunity and illegality,” Onwubiko said. 

Besides the call for probe, HURIWA also challenged Adamu and the ruling party to publish details of the party’s account “before he surreptitiously pushed them out of the system”. 

He said the APC leadership must come clean and inform Nigerians what they did with all the billions, adding that: “If it is true that the exco members were paid upfront their entire four year allowances, and housing allowances, then this must be dealt with as a misappropriation of party funds since you can’t pay an employee allowances he/she hasn’t earned. 

“In standard book keeping practices, allowances are paid for a specific service rendered and retired with receipts. If the APC’s hierarchy actually sat and awarded themselves juicy financial allowances for the next four years, why should that be tolerated because it is as irregular as it is illegal. 

“Which receipts will they tender to retire these funds they reportedly collected that would cover their entire tenure which has only just started and will last for four years?”