A media aide to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Lere Olayinka, has alleged that Peter Obi gave money to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) delegates while seeking the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2023 general election.
NEWSNGR reports that Olayinka made the allegation on Friday during an appearance on AIT’s Democracy Today, where he challenged the perception of Obi as a politician who does not spend money to pursue elective office.
The FCT minister’s aide said he was a PDP delegate in Ekiti State in 2022 and claimed to have personally received part of the money allegedly provided by Obi during consultations with delegates.
Obi, a former Anambra State governor, later left the PDP for the Labour Party (LP), on whose platform he contested the 2023 presidential election.
Olayinka raised the allegation while responding to a question about whether politics was a business for his principal, Wike.
He argued that discussions about the role of money in politics should acknowledge the financial resources politicians deploy during consultations, party primaries and election campaigns.
“One of the issues with most of us Nigerians is that we like to pretend politics is business. Don’t let us pretend. It’s a service but you can only serve when you get to power,” he said.
Turning specifically to Obi, Olayinka rejected the popular “no shishi” description associated with the former Anambra governor and his political movement.
“For instance, we have read that the candidate of NDC, Peter Obi, does not spend shishi. It’s a lie,” Olayinka said.
He claimed that Obi visited Ekiti while canvassing for the support of PDP delegates before his eventual departure from the party.
“I was a delegate in Ekiti when he was in PDP before going to Labour Party. He came to Ekiti. He dropped money for delegates. From the money he dropped, they gave me my own in 2022,” he alleged.
The FCT minister’s aide, however, acknowledged that the amount allegedly provided by Obi might have been less than what other aspirants offered delegates at the time.
“The money might be smaller than what other people gave, but he gave money,” he said.
Olayinka, who said he contested a House of Representatives seat in 2023, also drew from his own experience to argue that spending money was an unavoidable part of seeking political office.
He maintained that campaign expenses were not peculiar to Nigeria, citing elections in the United States and other countries.
“Why do politicians spend money? Will anybody tell me why politicians in this country, even outside Nigeria, in US, everywhere; don’t they spend money to campaign? They spend money to seek election,” he said.
