Entertainer cum politician, Tony Muanagor aka Tony One Week, who contested in the just concluded Anambra state election, has written to his party, APC saying he did not ‘eat’ Tony Nwoye’s campaign money.
The chairman
APC State Fact Finding Committee.
Dear Sir
MY SUBMISSION ON THE ILL-FATED ELECTIONS AS REGARDS IDEMILI NORTH AND OBOSI WARD IN PARTICULAR.
It’s with a deep sense of loss, disappointment and unhappiness that I write this report, having been optimistic that we will win the elections while the campaigns lasted.
It’s really a shame that in nearly all the wards in Idemili north, the stories are exactly the same. Stakeholders entrusted with monies meant for voters and workers rarely distributed these monies as detected.
All attempts by the Obosi ward chairman Hon Norman Ezeagbor to receive Obosi election monies from Mr Stanley Okeke (Ugbo) was unsuccessful as the army barricade at Nkpor junction was frustrating and he returned to Obosi. I even tried to arrange a police escort but even the police were not allowed free access by the army. I then begged Ugbo (who had a pass) to bring the money to Obosi.
Sometime between 3 and 4am on Saturday the 18th of November 2017, Mr Stanley Okeke (Ugbo) delivered the money for Obosi ward to me. At a glance, moving through the wraps, the total figure was Eleven million, two hundred and seventy five thousand naira (11,275,000). I promptly called the ward chairman and informed him that I now had the money and expected him to come to my house in a few hours for disbursements since we had no time.
My ward chairman was at my house around 7am. My personal assistant Afam Obiomwu observed that the physical cash was less than the figure I gave. It was less by 260,000. I tried to reach Ugbo to no avail and sent him a text: “Ugbo. The money u gave me is incomplete. It’s 11,015,000. There is no extra 265,000 here. Pls kindly note as we disburse ONLY the units. Tony Oneweek”. He later replied: “U have to check very well. I gave u all. U counted before us”.
Due to this development, we split the money into two: INLAND and URBAN. The chairman insisted that the money for inland Obosi must be complete and we complied. I gave the chairman a breakdown per polling unit (as was given by Ugbo) as follows: 10,000 for P.O.. 15,000 for the 3 APOs. 3,000 for police and 2,000 for civil defence. 10,000 for two party agents. 40,000 for 20 canvassers. 80,000 for vote purchasing via the 20 canvassers. (Writing from my head and may have forgotten one item or two).
The Obosi ward chairman was designated to disburse the INLAND monies while I went to the URBAN. Hon Norman Ezeagbor then signed and collected the sum of Five million and four hundred and twenty five thousand naira (5,425,000) and left my house. I proceeded to disburse Five million, two hundred and twenty thousand naira (5,220,000) to Awada, Ugwuagba, Odume and Enekwasumpu APC workers and stakeholders. Except in Enekwasumpu where we met only Okwuanasoanya and disbursed 775,000 to him for onward distribution, all monies were signed for by more than three persons.MY GROUSE.
I was shocked when I returned from Enekwasumpu to vote at my polling unit in Obosi town hall and asked the P.O. whether he has gotten any money from APC and Tony Nwoye. The guy said “No. We haven’t seen anybody oooo”. I asked “Nobody gave u money?” He replied “Nobody gave us even one naira”. I was mad. I started making calls and to my chagrin, discovered that the ward chairman didn’t give any money to POs, APOs, Security etc. He chose the canvassers to give whatever he decided to give. He single handedly selected stakeholders to give 80,000 or less to “buy” votes in a few booths. (Note that the 80,000 was meant for each unit but the ward chairman gave 80,000 each to few stakeholders in booths with multiple units. Many booths like Umuota primary school where Lady Nneka Ugwunze (Ijele nwanyi) etc worked did not get monies. Some were given to individuals who released a small part of it.
THAT WASN’T THE DIRECTIVE. (These monies were not meant to be shared privately but in front of party workers and stakeholders in each booth. That was what I did at all urban except for Enekwasumpu).
MY SUBMISSION.
The largely premeditated actions of Hon Norman Ezeagbor cost us the electoral victory in Obosi ward. He never intended to disburse the money as directed. He wasthe ward chairman and knew money must pass through him. This is difficult to comprehend considering he would’ve been the first beneficiary of Tony Nwoye and my electoral success in Obosi. The fact that he continued disbursing monies even after the elections point to only one truth: he tried to cover up his crime. I sent him the following text a night after we lost: “Uncle Norman. I can’t sleep. I can’t stop wondering why u withheld monies meant for voters and INEC workers until voting ended. U COST US THIS ELECTION. I trusted u to distribute Obosi inland feeling it was our project. U betrayed me. Return the monies pls. Tony Nwoye demands for it now. Tony”. Then he tells people he will never speak to me in his life time. I’m like… Seriously?.
EVIDENCE.
All my submissions are backed by evidences. I will forward u all signatures and names of everyone I gave money to at Urban Obosi. My PA also has the original paper where all of them signed. They must all be interrogated to say who or how they spent the monies. We are not fools. Tony Nwoye is not a fool neither am I. We spent money and time for this election only to be messed up by a few individuals? These guys should all be arrested if u ask me. They should be in cuffs. Yes. I am told that Okwuanasoanya of Enekwasumpu disbursed only 300,000 out of the 775,000 he signed from us. He should be invited to return the balance. Charles of Awada and co, Loolo Precious of Ugwuagba and Jideama of Odume must physically account for monies signed. APC MUST USE THIS AS A MEANS OF TEACHING LESSONS SO IT NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN.
CANDID THOUGHTS.
Either out of poverty or outright wickedness, most of these guys who were given monies in Idemili north did not utilize it as directed. As a candidate, I received calls from every ward on election day. The agents at Oraukwu and Nkpor complained they didn’t see any money. So did most others.
It’s painful.
Very painful.
Tony Oneweek Muonagor”
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
