The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it has up an investigative committee to unravel the source of The Nation Newspaper’s publication on the payment of some funds to the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.

It would be recalled that six members of PDP NWC refunded N177.6 million to the coffers of the opposition party.

The money, which range from N28 million to N36 million each, was reported to have been part of N15 billion nomination fees paid by aspirants for various offices in 2023.

In a bid to wash their hands off the mess, the PDP NWC members feigned ignorance that the money was paid into their accounts.

Some of them stated that they had to check various alerts they got after The Nation Newspaper published the messy sharing.

The party later said the funds were not paid into the account of any NWC member as bribe, noting that the funds were housing allowance which went through the due process of the party.

However, the PDP in a statement issued on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the main opposition party has set up a committee to investigate the source of the report.

The party stated that the decision was taken at its NWC meeting held on Tuesday.

The statement read: “The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at its meeting on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, thoroughly examined the strange publication by a particular newspaper which reported that the housing allowance legally paid by the party to its national officers was bribe.

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“After a thorough scrutiny of the payment by the party, the NWC in session established that the payment was not a bribe but housing allowance duly approved and paid to national officers of the party in line with the conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party.

“The NWC also established that the payment passed through due process procedures of the party in accordance with all extant financial regulations and payment approval processes of the party.

“It is also instructive to state that the national officers who returned their housing allowances equally confirmed and affirmed at the meeting that the payment was not bribe but their due entitlements in line with the conditions of service and entitlement of the staff and principal officers of the party.

“Considering the above, the NWC resolved to conduct an extensive investigation into the circumstances surrounding the said publication in The Nation Newspaper of September 26, 2022, which was clearly targeted to cause disaffection among members and stakeholders of the party as well as bring the party to disrepute before our teeming supporters all over the world particularly in an election year.

“Consequently, the NWC has set up an Investigative Committee headed by the National Legal Adviser to conduct an inquiry into the source of the said malicious and injurious publication contained in The Nation Newspaper of September 26, 2022.

“The Committee has one week to investigate the matter and report back to the NWC for further action,” the PDP stated.

The Star