BY OBINNA NWACHUKWU

A member of the National Executive Council ( NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alerted the public on what he called ” furtive moves by a compromised National Vice Chairman and a couple of other members of the National Executive Committee (NEC)” to derail Presidential Campaign and scuttle the victory of the party’s Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Atiku Abubakar at the 2023 general elections.

PDP NEC Member Chineremem Madu made this known in a press statement he issued on Wednesday in Abuja

According to him, the unnamed National Vice Chairman and his cohorts confessed to have been heavily bankrolled and are allegedly approaching and offering members of NEC sums ranging from N25 million to N28 million each to address a damaging press conference with fabrications aimed at derailing the Presidential Campaign.

“The said National Vice Chairman had approached me personally as a member of NEC to inform me of plots to orchestrate a heavily funded Press Conference to be addressed by select NEC members seemingly calling for the resignation of the National Chairman, Sen. Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, but actually targeted at frustrating the Atiku Abubakar Presidential bid.

“He pointedly confessed to me that the demands and agitation of his group has not been against the Party Chairman, as the public have been made to believe, but against Atiku Abubakar.

“He also vowed that nothing will assuage the group which is now bent at derailing the PDP Presidential Campaign.

“Central to this plot is the timing of the damaging press conference, which has been scheduled to hold soon after the inauguration of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council and official commencement of campaigns with a view to unsettle the PDP Presidential Campaign and scuttle Atiku Abubakar’s Presidential bid.

“Part of the scheme is to use the press conference to throw up heavily concocted script which will contain unprintable damaging claims, assertions and allusions that will trigger confusion within the Party and sidetrack the Presidential Campaign

“The said National Vice Chairman informed me of how huge sums have been paid to certain media houses and social media influencers to isolate and escalate the damaging content of the press content and throw up negative narratives to frustrate the campaign.

“As a loyal and very dedicated Party man, I am obliged to alert PDP leaders, members, supporters and the general public and expose this furtive scheme against Atiku Abubakar, which is completely against the national interest.

“PDP members and the general public should be at alert and note the surreptitious real intentions of any press conference by any group of members of NEC, purported to be against the National Chairman.

“Any NEC member involved in such a press conference had obviously fallen to the juicy financial offer by the said National Vice Chairman and his paymasters.

“For the avoidance of doubt, it is imperative to state that the overwhelming support being enjoyed by Atiku Abubakar across board is not and cannot be bought with money as Nigerians see in him the embodiment of the solution our nation needs at this point”, the statement concluded

However, Dailynewscraft could not as at press time confirm the true identities of the persons involved while efforts to reach Madu proved abortive