WHAT I KNOW ABOUT JONATHAN'S CAMPAIGN- FEMI FANI KAYODE

FORMER Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, has declared that he cannot be cowed by those forces allegedly bent on tarnishing his image at all costs, in the present political dispensation.
He spoke against the backdrop of insinuations of alleged impropriety as the Director of Media and Publicity for the Jonathan/Sambo Presidential Campaign Organisation (PCO), last year. 
He made the clarification in a statement entitled: “The money transfers and the truth about the presidential campaign funds.”
He said all the activities of his committee were properly documented and submitted to the appropriate authorities, who in turn, commended him for his diligence and transparency.
Accordingly, he said the current insinuation that he was involved in a shady transaction was a deliberate attempt to call a dog a bad name, in order to hang it.
Fani-Kayode said contrary to reports by a section of the media, he did not commit any crime to warrant the calculated attempt to tarnish his hard-earned reputation for his diligent service to his fatherland in two major capacities, in recent years.
The ex-minister explained that he chose “to remain silent on the issue until now, simply because the allegations have not been officially made by the EFCC or anyone else.”
He said he had no reason to doubt the authorities in charge of the campaign fund, when on inquiry about the source, they told him it was from a presidential fundraising exercise. 
“The allegations of fraud and the receipt of public funds from the National Security Adviser’s office and the Central Bank of Nigeria into my bank account are false.
“These allegations are baseless, wicked, shameful and irresponsible. It is not true that any money was paid into my account by or from the National Security Adviser’s office, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or any other government agency or institution last year or at any other time.
“As the Director of Media and Publicity of the Jonathan PCO, I was asked to submit a budget for my Directorate by Chief Tony Anenih, the Presidential Advisor to the PCO and Mrs Nenadi Usman, the Director of Finance.
 “My team and I prepared the budget and it was approved. Rather than collect cash, for security reasons and the purposes of accountability, I was advised by the Director of Finance to open a bank account for this purpose, which I did. The funds were paid into that account in installments at the beginning of last year by the Director of Finance and each deposit was authorised and approved by the Presidential Advisor to the PCO, Chief Tony Anenih. 
“The account they used to transfer the money to me was a private company account which was owned or under the control of the Director of Finance. 
“It was the same company and account that was used to send money to all the other directors of the PCO and the zonal directors, state directors and all our PDP governorship and legislative candidates during the various campaigns,” he said.
“I made a point of asking what the source of the funds in this account were and I was told by the Director of Finance that the funds were sourced from private individuals and private companies that opted to support and fund Jonathan’s campaign. 
“She told me that no money was paid into her company from any government official, account or agency. This she told me in the presence of witnesses and I believed her.
 “I was told that there was a fundraising event held by our party (PDP), which took place in early January 2015, in which billions of naira was raised specifically for the presidential campaign. I believed this to be true and I had no reason to doubt it.
“Our funds were given to us by the president, who was the leader of our party, through the Director of Finance of the PCO and we were not in a position to inquire into the sources of funding of the party’s campaign. Indeed, it was not our responsibility to do so. 
“Once I got these clarifications and confirmation, I agreed to receive the funds into my bank account and use them for their stated purpose. The transfers were made and I used the funds to carry out all our operations during the course of the presidential campaign.
“Given the fact that I was not the only director in the campaign organisation and in view of the fact that all the directors and zonal and state directors got their funds from the same source and account as I did, one wonders why only I and three others should be singled out for this reprehensible treatment and these false allegations.
“I cannot sit by silently as my name is dragged through the mud this way and I am convicted in the court of public opinion. This has happened to me once before and it took me seven years to clear my name. It will not happen to me again.
“Consequently, I am constrained to take this opportunity to state the facts of this matter, set the record straight and await my traducers and accusers to make their next move. It is, indeed, time to challenge those making these allegations and to kill the lie.
“The fact that my bank account was frozen on the orders of the EFCC two weeks ago without any explanation, is proof of the fact that I am being targeted and that those that seek to have their wicked way with me are about to pounce, Fani-Kayode said.