Former National Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, has revealed how much President Bola Tinubu, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and Speaker of the House of Representative, Tajudeen Abbas, allegedly spent during the 2023 general election.
According to Lukman, Tinubu may have spent around N100 billion to clinch the presidency, while Akpabio and Abass spent N50 billion each during the last elections.
Lukman revealed this in an article titled: ‘Resolving APC’s Progressive Retrogression’.
The APC chieftain said the high cost of winning elections was enough to weaken the bond between elected leaders and the party.
He noted that money politics played a key role in the emergence of Tinubu and other public officeholders.
According to Lukman: “It is possible that President Asiwaju Tinubu may have incurred not less than Fifty Billion Naira (N50 billion) to win the APC Presidential primary and emerge as the party’s presidential candidate.
“Certainly, inclusive of the cost of winning the presidential primary, winning the 2023 presidential elections may have cost President Asiwaju Tinubu upward of One Hundred Billion Naira (N100 Billion). By every standard, this is very outrageous and alarming. Cascading it down to Governors, it would have cost each of the APC governorship candidates for 2023 elections not less than Ten Billion (N10 Billion) to win the elections.
”It may have cost both Sen. Godswill Akpabio and Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen nothing less than Fifty Billion Naira (N50 Billion) each to win the contest for Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives.”