Lai Mohammed Stole N100 Million Sent To Me By Igbo Businessman For Election — Gov. AbdulRazaq

Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, has been accused of stealing hundreds of millions of naira contributed to AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s governorship campaign.

“The Chief of Staff to the Kaduna State Governor called and said Lai gave us an account but it’s not going through, “can you give us another account so we can send you the money?” But I was going to campaign so I said fine.

“I came back two days later and remembered, and I said they should call him and give him an account number. When we called, he said Lai had sorted it out. That one and several. Until today, as we speak, he never told anybody that he collected money.

“There’s a businessman from the South-east. His banker came to me and said his Oga wants to speak with me. I spoke with him and he said he was sending money to me. I said, thank you very much. After the election, he called me to congratulate me.

“When he saw I was just saying ‘thank you’, then he asked if Lai didn’t deliver the money, I asked him what money? He said N100 million,” Mr AbdulRazaq told ThisDay in an interview out on Sunday.

According to the governor, the anonymous Igbo businessman then called to congratulate him and mention the payment, but he was unable to confirm receipt. Mr Mohammed has failed to account for hundreds of millions of dollars in donations he intercepted and pocketed during the campaign, according to the governor.

Mr AbdulRazaq claimed that he became governor of Kwara in spite of Mr Mohammed, despite the fact that they are both members of the ruling All Progressives Congress. In the run-up to the exercise, he claimed that the information minister humiliated him and acted against his interests.

Mr Mohammed did not respond to several attempts from Peoples Gazette for comment on the claims. However, the minister has previously denied stealing campaign funds, claiming instead that he paid for Mr AbdulRazaq’s election with his own money.

Mr AbdulRazaq’s claims revealed that the Kwara APC’s dilemma was far from ended. The party has been in disarray since Mr Mohammed accused the governor’s team of misconduct during the revalidation process.

As a result of Mr AbdulRazaq’s intransigence, the minister later released a statement warning of the ruling party’s dissolution in Kwara. The governor, on the other hand, said that the minister was simply expressing his displeasure and that he had no political foundation in Kwara.

In 2019, the now-fighting factions came together to depose Senate President Bukola Saraki and seize control of major state and federal political posts in Kwara. The agreement put an end to the Saraki dynasty’s decades of political dominance.