Former Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State, Ben Nwoye, Friday, disclosed he withdrew his governorship ambition and returned over N73 million donations to his supporters ahead of the party’s governorship primary. The former APC chairman stated this while speaking on, “Political Voice,” a programme on Dream FM radio station in Enugu.
“I was supposed to run for governor. Do you know that I received a little over N73 million from people who wanted me to run?
“I even got N5,000 from a young entrepreneur based in Nsukka to contribute for me to buy the N50 million form. Even retired principals, retired teachers sent money to me to buy form and run,” he said.
Mr Nwoye, however, said he withdrew from the race and decided to return the money to the individuals who had donated the money to support his governorship ambition in the state. He said the decision was based on his realization that the outcome of the governorship primary had been decided by the party leadership before it was held, describing it as “a pre-determined contest.”
“But at the end of the day, I found out that there was a candidate that was already pre-crown. Even though I got about N75 million donated by people, I said No. In good conscience, I cannot do it (run for governorship) because it was not going to be a contest.
“Yes, it is not my money. People donated money to me. I said I was going to return the money to them and I did. Even people from the United States, who thought I should run, I returned all their money. Yesterday, I returned the last batch of it.
“There was no contest because someone said he has a friend in Enugu State and was going to anoint his friend to become the next governor of Enugu State and he has all the money to do it. I cannot compete to be governor. I can’t,” he explained.
Like other political parties in Enugu State, the APC elected Uche Nnaji as its candidate during the party’s governorship primary. Mr Nnaji, a consensus candidate, was the sole contestant in the exercise.
