The Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, has
alleged that the Peoples Democratic Party bribed some Christian
religious leaders with N6bn to campaign against the All Progressives
Congress and its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari
(retd.).
Amaechi said that the religious leaders had been circulating
documents to convince Nigerians that the APC and Buhari would islamise
Nigeria if voted into power on February 14.
He told a crowd at the state APC governorship rally in Emohua that
the PDP ought to know that Nigerians were too enlightened for any
political party or an individual to make the country a Muslim nation.
The governor, who is also the Director-General of Buhari
Presidential Campaign Organisation, therefore advised the religious
leaders, whom he accused of commercialising the Christian faith, to
return the bribe money to the Federal Government.
He said, “Some pastors collected N6bn and they are circulating
document and telling you not to vote for an Hausa man; not to vote for a
Muslim; that they want to Islamise Nigeria. Tell them to return our
N6bn.
“They gave them N6bn; they should return it to the Federal
Government coffers. They will tell you that Buhari wants to Islamise
Nigeria; tell them we are too educated.
“I am a Catholic, but no Catholic priest has told me that story
right now in the Catholic Church because, I will ask him how. If any
pastor tells you that, tell him to return the money.
“Nobody can Islamise Nigeria; they have commercialised Jesus Christ.
They should stop commercialising the Christian faith. You know what
Jesus Christ did in the temple? He chased them away.
“We shall chase away those pastors who have collected money from the
PDP to tell us lies. We shall chase them away on behalf of Christ.”
The governor described the election in the state as a referendum
between him and President Goodluck Jonathan, whom he challenged to
show Rivers people what he had done for them.
“I told the President that the election in Rivers State is a
referendum between him and myself. I told him anywhere I go, I will show
what I have done. Let him show what he has done,” Amaechi stressed.
The national leadership of the PDP described the allegation by Amaechi as a “crime against God.”
“It is also a crime to the Church and Christianity. It is an insult
on Christianity. To say that pastors are paid to support
the President is height of recklessness. Such allegation is despicable
and should be condemned. There was nothing like that from us as a party
and there was nothing like that from our candidate,” its National
Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, added.
Reacting, the state Assistant Publicity Secretary of the PDP,
Samuel Nwanosike, challenged Amaechi, to name the pastors that
collected the N6bn.
Nwanosike argued that the allegation was an indication that the governor had conceded defeat to Jonathan.
He said, “It shows clearly that Governor Amaechi has conceded defeat
and that Dr. Jonathan has what it takes to continue as the President
of this country.”
In his remark at the rally, the APC governorship candidate in the
state, Dakuku Peterside, said that if voted into power on February 28,
he would complete all projects embarked upon by the Amaechi government.
The candidate also promised to combat insecurity in the communities.
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