Our President denies spending 2trn on election campaigns

President Goodluck Jonathan has denied reports that he and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spent N2trn on campaigns for the general elections. He also denied setting up a committee to conduct an audit of how the elections funds were disbursed by party members and state officials. According to a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, it is impossible to use half of the entire budget-N4trn on election campaigns. The story which was reported by Sunday Punch Punch read that “Jonathan demands N2tn election funds refund, audit.” Abati described the report as “mischievous, false and embarrassing.” Abati also said the Presidency was worried that since the March 28 and April 11 elections, some persons had continued to work very hard to diminish the Jonathan Presidency. He further said that such people needed to be reminded that the time for politics was over and it is time to focus on the in-coming government, with emphasis on national development. The statement partly read, “The front- page story of the Sunday Punch of April 19 alleging that the Presidency spent a whopping N2tn on the 2015 general elections, and that a Committee of Five has been set up by President Jonathan to conduct an audit of how the funds were disbursed by party members and state officials is mischievous, false and embarrassing. “The President has not set up any committee as alleged in that story. It is also not true that the Presidency and the Peoples Democratic Party used state funds, or spent N2tn on the campaigns. The innuendoes are wrong-headed; the motives behind the story are suspicious.” Meanwhile, Vanguard reports that in the year 2011, 2012 and 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan has pocketed a total of N43.231 million as salary while he had in the last three years, paid N6.264 million as According to the FIRS document placed at the INEC office at Area 10, Abuja, the president’s salary stands at N14,410,290.48 per annum. The president also paid a total of N6,264,221.75 as tax in the years under review. The income tax clearance certificate from the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Abuja, with Ref. No: ABJ/MDA/ PAYE/09690150 and dated July 2, 2014, revealed that in the years 2011, 2012 and 2013, he received a total of N43,230,871.44 as salary. The details of the president’s tax payment also showed that the president did not earn any other income besides his fixed income as president of the country in that period. There were no indications of income from stocks or other businesses that the president could have had. The basic salary of the President is about 1.2 million naira every month. Figures of allowances however remains a mystery.