An Igbo group of the All Progressives Congress is soliciting N26 million from Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to organise a rally to rally support for Bola Tinubu as the ruling party’s presidential candidate.

In a letter seen by Peoples Gazette, the Ndigbo group asserted that “a minimum of four thousand five hundred people with PVCs who are members (of) our great party APC of Igbo extraction in Lagos” would attend the rally scheduled to be held at Blue Roof hall in Ikeja.

“Therefore, with this number of people, we hereby present to you a very modest budget of approximately twenty-six million four hundred thousand naira (26,400,000.00) only,” added the letter addressed to Joe Igbokwe, a special adviser to the Lagos governor on drainage and water resources.

A breakdown of the fund comprises N4.5 million for branded caps, N8.4 million for mobilisation, N1.3 million for the venue, N1.3 million for entertainment, N270,000 for music, N100,000 for garden eggs and kola and so forth. 

Organisers of the rally projected that 4,500 Igbo members would participate in the rally. 

They include Nd’Igbo in APC Lagos covering the executives and leaders in the 57 LGAs and LCDAs, Ohaneze executives in all LGAs, Igbo-speaking community executives, executives of the 58 major markets in Lagos state and executives of over 100 town unions in Lagos.

In January, the London-based Financial Times put the cost of Nigeria’s presidential election at $2 billion, a sum that the politician would loot the nation’s treasury to recover if elected.

“It takes an estimated $2 billion to get a president elected. Those who pay will expect to be paid back,” the newspaper wrote.