‘President offered us dollars’, Arewa leaders allege

monjola sotubo

March 16, 2015 2:26 PM

The leaders reportedly stated this while receiving the Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in Lagos on Sunday, March 15.

Some Arewa leaders in Lagos State have alleged that they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars by President Goodluck Jonathan but they refused the money.

The leaders reportedly stated this while receiving the Governor of Kano State, Rabiu Kwankwaso, in Lagos on Sunday, March 15.

The Arewa leaders also denied reports that they had endorsed Jonathan for re-election.

“When President Jonathan came to Lagos with dollars, some of us here quickly went back and gathered ourselves and started calling our own not to go to visit Jonathan. I also commend some leaders here for leading an offensive and convinced people not to go there,” the Chairman of the Arewa Community in Lagos, Sani Kabiru said during a meeting at the home of All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Bola Tinubu.

“Most of the Arewa leaders and ‘serikis’ did not even go there to collect the dollars. At that event, card-carrying members of the Peoples Democratic Party bought turbans at the Central Market around Moshalashi Bus Stop, Agege. The person that sold the turbans told me that they dressed up as emirs and they were on their way to Jonathan’s place,” Kabiru added.

“So, most of them were fake. They went to collect dollars but cannot tell anyone because they are in hiding. But we did not stop at that; those that we knew that went, we called them to order and asked them why they went but they said they only collected dollars but they would not vote Jonathan,” the Arewa leader said.

Kabiru also promised to gather one million votes for the APC Presidential candidate, Muhammadu Buhari and the Lagos governorship candidate, Akinwunmi Ambode.

State Governor, Babatunde Fashola had earlier accused Jonathan of sharing dollars during his visits to Lagos.

monjola sotubo