A PDP presidential aspirant paid $23.2m to bribe 774 delegates in 2023, Dele Momodu claims

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and publisher of Ovation International Magazine, Dele Momodu, has lamented the monetization of Nigeria’s political system where politicians who have deep pockets buy their way into leadership positions.

Momodu, a former presidential aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who spoke on a podcast episode of Key to Keys Show hosted by Eden Oasis, described the financial and systemic barriers that define Nigeria’s political landscape.

He also opened up on his experience during the 2023 PDP primaries where he said he spent N50 million naira to purchase the party’s nomination form but failed to secure even a single delegate vote because he did not induce them financially.

The veteran journalist who expressed his regret on the podcast, revealed that an aspirant gave $30,000 to each of the 774 delegates at the party primary, amounting to $23.22 million.

Momodu vowed he would not vie for any party’s presidential ticket unless he is adopted as a consensus candidate.

“Experience is the best teacher, and I have come to realise that there are powers you can describe as principalities that control Nigeria,” Momodu said.

“Unless a major political party decides to adopt me through a consensus that Dele Momodu is best suited to change and lead Nigeria, then I can consider it.

“But if I have to pick my money to go and buy a presidential nomination form of about N100 million and the last one I spent about N50 million buying the form. This could have gotten me a property and it was a waste, nobody voted for me – not even one vote because everything was monetized.

“There was one of the candidates who paid as high as $30,000 per delegate and we had 774 delegates, so how do you compete with them? They have stolen the country blind and doing all kinds of deals to make money, especially those in the oil-rich areas.

“It’s not easy and that’s why you can’t compete with them – that’s why they insult Nigerians anyhow because of the amount of money available to them in raw cash. There is no country in the world where people control raw cash like Nigeria.

“The bulk of their money is not in any bank so they are not traceable. If today you ask some politicians that look you need $500 million to become a President, they will find it. So people like us where will I start from? I’m not bothered,” he lamented.

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