Osun Accord Members Protest Unpaid of ₦50m Campaign Fund

• A ₦50m mobilisation fund has sparked a dispute in Osun Accord, with supporters alleging non-payment while the PBAT movement coordinator says funds were released.

Members and supporters of the Accord party in Osun State have accused party leaders of withholding mobilisation payments allegedly meant for participants in the recent PBAT Door-to-Door Movement programme.

The dispute centres on a ₦50m mobilisation fund reportedly allocated to Accord to bring supporters and interest groups to the event.

While some participants said they had received nothing, the state coordinator of the movement, Timothy Olanrewaju, maintained that the funds had been released to the relevant leaders.

However, the Osun Accord chairman, Pastor Victor Akande, said he was unaware of the funds and that the money did not pass through him.

Organiser claims APC, Accord received equal allocations

An organiser, speaking anonymously, said ₦100m was budgeted to mobilise interest groups within the All Progressives Congress and Accord for the inauguration programme.

According to the organiser, each party was allocated ₦50m.

“I know that N50m was allocated to each of the two parties to mobilise their supporters,” he said.

Some people who mobilised participants subsequently alleged that their groups had yet to receive the expected payments.

An aide to Governor Ademola Adeleke, who requested anonymity, said a support group he brought to the event had received nothing.

“Our support group was asked to mobilise members, but they haven’t received a kobo,” the aide stated.

Student representative alleges non-payment

A member of the National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West, also said the students’ constituency had not received any money despite mobilising participants.

The student representative, who declined to be named, accused Accord leaders of withholding the allocation and failing to explain the delay.

“The PBAT Door-to-Door rally was another eye-opener to the kind of selfish and greedy leaders we have in this so-called Accord. The organisers decided to split the mobilisation between the APC and Accord.”

“Till now, Accord leaders are yet to pay us, nor explain the reason for the delay,” he said on Saturday.

Movement coordinator says funds were released

Responding to the complaints, Olanrewaju said the mobilisation funds had already been disbursed and urged those alleging non-payment to seek answers from their leaders.

“Those people protesting should hold their leaders responsible. The fund was released to them. I, as the central coordinator, was not even given any slot. My own mobilisation was also part of the APC slots.

“The calculations we made were N80,000 per bus and N10,000 for each person in an 18-seater bus. The 5,000 people we were expecting from Accord were not even up to that, if not for the extra mobilisation from our own end,” Olanrewaju disclosed.

His account places responsibility for the outstanding payments with the leaders who received the funds, although the supplied report does not identify the individual recipients.

Accord chairman denies handling money

Akande said he was not a member of the organising committee and had no knowledge of the alleged allocation.

He also said no party member had formally written to him to complain about unpaid mobilisation money.

“I am not aware of the funds. I wasn’t part of the committee. Also, if money was released, I believe those who mobilised ought to have received their money by now,” he stated.

The conflicting accounts leave unresolved who received Accord’s alleged allocation and why some participating groups say they remain unpaid.