Delegates returned my money after I lost APC ticket – Senator Ibrahim

Federal lawmaker representing Kwara Central district, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe has revealed that about 17 delegates of the All Progressives Congress, APC, refunded the cash he gave them during the senatorial primary elections.

Speaking when he appeared on Channels Television on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, the lawmaker, who was aspiring to return to the upper chamber in 2023, accused the State governor of manipulating the election in his (governor) favour.

He, however, said the cash was for logistics, stating that while 17 delegates refunded theirs, others did not, saying they intended voting for him but were forced to do otherwise.

He said, “There was no congress; like in my state, the governor just handpicked them (the delegates) one night and said we have done primaries and the list came. So, you don’t even know who the delegates are … and this happened in several states.

“Even where people are selected, they should be given the freedom to exercise their franchise by voting for who they want, but it was not like that. The governors selected those to whom they would give instructions and some of them took an oath to vote where the governors direct them … and this was what happened in Kwara State.

“In my own election (primary), 17 delegates came back to give me money which I gave them for logistics; others did not because they said ‘we wanted to vote for you, but we are not allowed to vote’. There was one of my colleagues in Kogi who mentioned that people came back (to return his money).”

In 2019, former Senate President Bukola Saraki lost his seat to Oloriegbe.