27th March, 2015
Cyriacus Izuekwe
But for the prompt intervention of the police at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos State, western Nigeria, there would have been bloodshed on Thursday following the alleged disappearance of N650 million President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly donated to one of the groups campaigning for his re-election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Members of the group under the umbrella of Goodluck Support Group, GSG, in the Lagos West Senatorial zone revolted after they discovered that the money given to them was allegedly diverted by their leaders.
The group comprises traders, businessmen and women, civil society groups and other well meaning Nigerians who came out to support Jonathan.
P.M.NEWS gathered that trouble started after members of the group were told that the president had released hundreds of millions of naira to the group but their leaders did not disclose the information and how much was given to them to campaign for Jonathan.
Some aggrieved members on Thursday re-grouped at the Trade Fair Complex along Badagery expressway and demanded for their share of the money.
When they did not get satisfactory answers to their demands, they revolted and attempted to attack their leaders present at the meeting.
This caused uproar at the meeting before a team of police officers was drafted to restore peace there.
Following the development, the leaders were forced to leave the scene to avoid being lynched by the angry members who felt that they had been short-changed.
Speaking on the development, one of the assistant coordinators, Barrister Dominic Ehimare, who confirmed the incident, said that members were short-changed after making a lot of efforts to set up the group.
He explained that members of the group were sidelined when the money was released to campaign for Jonathan in the Lagos West Senatorial Zone, adding that this has caused the members to be aggrieved.
Ehimare said when they were planning to form the group, they were spending their personal money on trips to Abuja from Lagos.
He said coordinators were appointed to coordinate the three Senatorial zones in Lagos and to oversee the affairs of the group.
He said when the president brought the money, they were sidelined and the leaders refused to disclose the amount, which other sources said was about N650 million.
“When the members got to know about the money, those responsible started dodging and stopped attending meetings,” he said.
Some of the members who spoke to our reporter on Thursday at the Trade Fair Complex expressed their disappointment about what happened and threatened that they will not vote for Jonathan because of the way their leaders treated them.
Most of them walked out of the meeting on Thursday after the fracas and swore never to come back as members.
Some even threatened to work against the ambition of Jonathan.
“On the election day, let those who collected the money vote for him,” an angry member said.