Rawlings Denies Receiving $3.5 million From Nigerian Governor- Spokesperson for former President Jerry Rawlings, Kofi Adams has denied media reports indicating that Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi sunk $3.5 million into the NDCs (Ghana’s ruling party) 2008 electoral campaign. He also vehemently denied that these monies were channeled through former President Rawlings.
Under the laws of Ghana, political parties are not allowed to seek sponsorship or funds from non Ghanaians or foreign institutions. Adams denial came on the heels of a story in Ghana’s Daily Guide Newspaper on Monday, June 22 that Rotimi who is currently under investigations from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria (EFCC) had allegedly given out the said amount to the NDC through its founder.
The spokesperson rubbished the claim that the former president was conduit for the alleged transfer of funds. That is baloney he said. Nothing like that happened. He added that if the story had been true, it would have been picked up by newspapers in River State after it had been published online by an online news outlet called the pointblanknews.com.
Adams told Ghana’s citi news that the Governor had been under investigation long before he became Governor of River State and those same investigations had lead to him being denied the gubernatorial position, a situation which was finally resolved in court. He added Rawlings met Amaechi when he traveled to Nigeria to be a guest speaker for a programme for sustainable development for the River State last year about four months before the general elections but denies that a deeper personal relationship developed out of that meeting.
Meanwhile, Publisher of the said Nigerian Online-news outlet, pointblanknews.com, Jackson Ude has insisted that his story is true, credible and verifiable. Speaking to Citi News, Ude reiterated that Rotimi issued a cheque through one of his aides to the ruling party in Ghana, as a contribution to the election of President John Atta Mills.
He insisted that the alleged amount of $3.5 million was transferred through former president Rawlings to the NDC. Ude alleged that there are video and picture evidence to prove that Rawlings and Amaechi Rotimi are indeed very close friends. The publisher of pointblanknews.com challenged all who wish to verify the authenticity of his story to do so from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria.
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