Senator Dino Melaye, the chief spokesperson for the Atiku‑Okowa presidential council, claimed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential campaign council spent more than N400 billion on its campaigns. He made the allegation in a one‑minute‑45‑second video obtained on Monday night, stating that the entire “redesigning of the naira” was a deception.
The remarks came hours after PDP leaders, including Senator Iyorchia Ayu, stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters to protest the declaration of All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate Bola Tinubu as president‑elect following the February 25, 2023 elections. The PDP, Labour Party and New Nigeria Peoples Party rejected the results, describing the election as marred by violence, rigging and a lack of integrity—particularly the failure to upload presidential results on the IRev portal in real time on election day. They called for the election’s cancellation and lamented numerous irregularities during the voting process.
Melaye further asserted that, “to ensure the mandate freely given to Atiku Abubakar is retrieved, we spent over N400 billion for a caricature show.” He accused INEC of deceiving Nigerians and alleged that, because money was given to Bola Tinubu, the APC distributed new naira notes on election day while the PDP was starved of funds. According to Melaye, the naira redesign was a ploy by INEC to mislead the public. He concluded by urging all PDP supporters and lovers of democracy across the country not to allow this situation to stand.
Comments are closed for this story.