- She said Bello’s initial offer was N50 million to withdraw her candidacy in favour of his preferred candidate
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Kogi Central senatorial district in the 2023 general election, alleged that Governor Yahaya Bello proposed offering her a sum of up to N70 million in exchange for stepping down.
Akpoti-Uduaghan made this claim during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday morning, revealing that Bello’s initial offer was N50 million to withdraw her candidacy in favor of his preferred candidate.
“In 2018, before I joined the SDP, I was in the APC for pretty much.
“The Governor called on me along with nine other aspirants at that point to step down.
“He offered some people money. He offered me money as well. He offered me N50 million at first, I turned it down. He then said ‘How about N70m?’ to stand down for his anointed candidate who was then a Senator.
“I told him I wasn’t in the race for money. It was not for personal aggrandisement, but to make an impact on my people. And that annoyed him.
“Yahaya Bello does not like to be dared. He wants his words to be law.”