Buhari denies seeking funds from Arabian countries

The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, has dismissed reports that he was seeking funds from some Arab countries to fund his presidential campaign.

Buhari spoke through the convener of a meeting of the coalition of his support groups, Col. Hamid Ali (retd), in an interview with reporters in Abuja.

Ali who is also Buhari's Chief of Staff, said claims that the former Head of State was expecting funding from the Arab league were not only untrue, but also malicious.

'It is not true. I am part of it, I am in the centre of it and I don't know of any Arab man that has spoken to us, so it is untrue, it is false.

'Buhari has said it that he lunched the (crowd) funding to get money purposely from the lower people because he want the commitment of the people and to remember when he get to the office that it is the sweat of the people that got him there and by that he will be more committed to serve them,” Ali said.

Ali however confirmed that the Buhari campaign team was receiving donations from groups and individuals who have identified with the cause of rescuing Nigeria.

He announced that the Buhari Crowd Funding Initiative has so far yielded a total of N118, 702, 265. 36. He explained that apart from the sale of specialised scratch cards, there were donations made directly to the designated bank account.

Ali further explained that the sum of N54 million was realized as of December 24, 2014 while an additional N64, 702,265.36 accrued to the fund as of Wednesday.

He further explained that the idea behind the meeting of support groups was to provide an avenue to examine the challenges being encountered by the support groups in order to harmonise positions ahead of next month's presidential poll.

He expressed the group's appreciation to all those who have so far identified with the Buhari for President project. He equally said Nigeria and Nigerians will be the better for it when the retired general is given the mantle of leadership because he has all it takes to take Nigeria out of the woods.