PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria – Augustine Nwokocha, the former chairman of the Tinubu/Shetima Grassroots Independent Campaign Council, ICC, is facing allegations of misappropriating N65 million meant for the 2023 presidential campaign in Rivers State.
Tony Okocha, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and South-South coordinator of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu, BAT, Vanguard, made the accusations public during a press briefing on Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Okocha revealed that the funds were donated in installments of N5 million, N50 million, and N10 million and were paid into Nwokocha’s private account.
However, the funds have not been accounted for.
“Few days to the presidential rally in Port Harcourt, N50 million was donated to the party for the success of the rally by the owner of Belema Oil, Tien Jackrich,” Okocha said.
He further pointed out that Nwokocha had served as the chairman of the finance committee in the SDP, as reported by the Nation newspaper on February 1, 2023, and thus held responsibility for the funds.
Nwokocha responded to the allegations, stating that if Okocha wanted a financial report concerning the funds, “he (Okocha) should write to me and I will answer him.”
He declined to engage in a verbal back-and-forth with Okocha, dismissing him as not a true member of the APC.
“I don’t want to banter words with him. Tony Okocha is not a member of the APC. He belongs to the PDP. He was very prominent during the governor’s inauguration,” Nwokocha added.
In his defense, Nwokocha explained that he served as the chairman of the finance committee of the Magnus Abe governorship project, not as a member of the SDP.
“It was Magnus Abe that put Tony Okocha’s name as a member of the PCC and put me as a member of the ICC in the state, even when he (Abe) was a governorship candidate of the SDP,” Nwokocha said.
The alleged misappropriation of campaign funds has sent shockwaves through political circles in Rivers State.
The APC is now faced with internal questions of accountability and transparency as the country heads towards the 2023 elections.
