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Despite his seemingly austere disposition, a presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, donated N1 million to the delegates of the party from Imo State to vote him during its December 10 national convention.
Mr. Buhari, a former head of state, met with the delegates at the Regent Hotels, Owerri, during which he lobbied them to vote for him.
He also visited the Imo State House of Assembly to lobby the APC members of the legislature who are statutory delegates to the convention.
The presidential hopeful was accompanied by the Director General of his Campaign Organisation, Audu Ogbeh; a former President of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Rotimi Akeredolu; and a former member of the House of Representatives, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.
One of Mr. Buhari’s opponents and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had at the weekend given N8.5 million to the Sokoto State chapter of the APC.
Mr. Abubakar, who was on national wide campaign, said N5 million was meant to facilitate the party’s activities while N2.5 million was for the 50 delegates from the state.
Other aspirants jostling for the opposition party’s presidential ticket are Governor Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano State and the founder of the Leadership newspaper, Sam Nda-Isaiah.
Mr. Buhari had recently launched a crowd sourcing campaign on the social media to raise funds for the primaries.
He is already generating funds online and offline to prosecute his presidential aspiration.
The former head of state, who thrice contested to be president, had in October revealed how he took loan and borrowed from several banks to procure the APC presidential nomination and expression of interest form which cost N27.5 million.
“It’s a pity I couldn’t influence this amount to be put down as in the case of ladies and the disabled that intend to participate. I always looked left and right in our meetings but I could not read sympathy, so I kept my trap,” Mr. Buhari said.
“But I felt heavily sorry for myself because I don’t want to go and ask somebody to pay for my nomination forms because I always try to pay for myself at least for the nomination.
“N27 million is a big sum, thankfully I have personal relationship with the manager of my bank in Kaduna and early this morning, I put an early call (and) I told him that very soon the forms are coming, so whether I am on red, or green or even black please honour it, otherwise I may lose the nomination.”
He also said the cost of the forms was fixed to separate the men from the boys.
The former military leader said, “I don’t expect you have N27 million under your bed. But I expect that there are Nigerians who will vouch for you any day and who are ready to stand for you any day and that is the result that we have obtained today.”
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