The March 28 presidential election has made some traditional rulers in the South-West geopolitical zone millions of naira richer, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

Findings show that this change of fortunes was brought about by President Goodluck Jonathan’s quest for the support of the traditional rulers, and their subjects, for his re-election bid.

Jonathan, the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, has virtually relocated to the South-West since the Independent National Electoral Commission postponed the general election. The President has traversed the geopolitical zone holding series of meetings with traditional rulers, groups and individuals.

Analysts have said South-West voters might determine the outcome of the election. As a result, the All Progressives Congress and the PDP are making strenuous efforts to win the votes of the region.

SUNDAY PUNCH learnt that the President and his team doled out various amounts of money in dollars to monarchs during his recent visits to the region. It was, however, gathered that a few of the traditional rulers and chiefs turned down the money.

Competent sources disclosed to our correspondents that a handful of Obas received as high as $250,000 each, while the least paid were traditional rulers of small towns who were given $10,000 each.

Sources say the sum of money given to each traditional ruler was determined by a set of criteria which ranged from status and class — whether first-class, second-class, or mere traditional chief — to the popularity and perceived political clout of the monarch.

The traditional ruler of a prominent South-West ancient city which the President visited is said to have been given $250,000 (N50m) while other traditional chiefs were given $10, 000 (N2.2m).

A prominent Yoruba lawyer, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH in confidence, confirmed each of the paramount rulers received about $250,000 (about N50m). He, however, added that some of the senior Obas were expected to share the largesse with their subordinate Obas and chiefs.

He said, “We learnt that the Yoruba Obas in the highest category got $250,000, a part of which will go to the lower Obas. Ironically, a son of one of the prominent Obas is contesting on the platform of the opposition, APC. Interestingly, when the President visited the palace, the father dressed the son with the same attire as the others.”

On February 21, President Jonathan after inaugurating the Olorunsogo Power Plant 2, at Papalanto in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, held a private meeting with some prominent traditional rulers in the state.

At the meeting were the Akarigbo of Remoland and Chairman of the Ogun State Traditional Council, Oba Michael Sonariwo; Alake and the Paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo; Olowu of Owu, Oba Adegboyega Dosunmu; Olu of Itori, Oba Fatai Akamo; Oniro of Iro, Oba Adebari; Olu of Owode-Egba, Oba Kolawole Sowemimo; and other traditional rulers, mostly from the Ogun Central Senatorial District. The Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona; and Olu of Ilaro, the paramount ruler of Yewaland, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle were absent.

President Jonathan returned to Ogun State on Thursday and paid a private visit to the Awujale in his palace at Ijebu Ode.

Also three weeks ago, the President was in Oyo State where he visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Oba Oladunni Ajagungbade, separately in their respective palaces.

On March 7, the President visited the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade in Ile-Ife, Osun State to seek the support of the monarch and his colleagues for his re-election.

Apart from the Ooni, the Orangun of Oke-Ile, Oba Adedokun Abolarin; the Owamiran of Esa Oke, Oba Oba Adeyemi Adeniran; the Olufi of Gbongan, Oba Adetoyese Oyeniyi; Alowa of Ilowa, Oba Bukola Ali; the Olojudo of Ido Osun, Oba Adeen Aderemi; and monarchs from the entire Ile-Ife region were at the palace to receive the President.

The President, thereafter, proceeded to Ilesa where he also met with the Owa Obokun of Ijesaland, Oba Adekunle Aromolaran, another paramount ruler. Traditional rulers from Ijesaland were also present at the Owa’s palace to receive the President.

In Ekiti State, a similar scenario played out. President Jonathan met Ekiti monarchs when he visited the state for the PDP campaign in January, it was learnt on Friday. About 50 traditional rulers were present at the meeting and the President took time to shake hands with all of them.

A source within the PDP told our correspondent that traditional rulers categorised as ‘mere traditional chiefs’ were given $10,000 each by the President’s aides. The monetary gift, it was gathered, was given to “appreciate the presence of the traditional rulers and solicit their support for the President’s re-election.”

Similarly, a source in the palace of a prominent traditional ruler in one of the South-West states said, “It is true that the President gave out money to the kings. But it was not a huge sum as speculated. Thus, the kings should not be seen as being bought over. Our kings are men of good standing in the public. Their consciences are not for sale and could not have been bought.”

The windfall from the President was not limited to traditional rulers alone as groups and individuals also benefitted hugely from it.

The groups, which included market women, students, professional and ethnic groups, SUNDAY PUNCH learnt, made between $5,000 and $100,000 in Lagos. All the groups that visited Jonathan at the State House, Marina, went home richer. The largesse however caused rancour among some of the groups as members accused their leaders of short-changing them.

A member of a popular Yoruba group that visited Jonathan in Lagos said his group received the sum of $50,000. Pleading anonymity, he said, “We were given $50,000 when we finished meeting the President but to my surprise, our leader gave me only $500. A lot of us are not happy with what he did.”

The Secretary, Board of Trustees, National Council of Traditional Rulers in Nigeria, Oba Adedapo Aderemi, however, told one of our correspondents on the telephone that he knew nothing about the President’s largesse.

Aderemi, who is the Olojudo of Ido Osun in Osun State, said the monarchs did not collect any bribe, neither were they offered.

He said, “I do not know anything about the bribe. The President invited us and we went to meet him. Jonathan is our son just like Buhari is our son. As the number one citizen of the country, Jonathan invited us and we honoured the invitation.

“There is none of us who is hungry. Obas in Nigeria are not hungry as far as I know.”

Similarly, the Chairman, Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Onitaji of Itaji, Oba Adamo Babalola, said they (kings) did not receive money from Jonathan at any time.

He said, “I’m not aware. Nothing of such happened to my knowledge. If that happened, I was not part of it.”

In the same vein, the Ondo State Council of Traditional Rulers said it did not benefit from Jonathan’s cash gift.

A member of the council, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Israel Adeusi, said the allegation was an effort to drag the traditional council into politics and tarnish its image.

“This kind of rumour should be stopped. We are not politicians and we should not be dragged into this kind of politics.

“You have a duty to stop this kind of rumours and protect the integrity of the traditional institution,” he said.

On his part, Oba Kayode Olisa, Oba Ajowa Akoko, said he was not at the meeting where President Jonathan met with the traditional rulers in the state.

According to him, he had travelled out of the state and was unable to meet the appointment.

Asked if anything was sent to him afterwards, he said, “I am not aware if anything was given; only those who attended will be able to confirm what happened.”

Efforts by SUNDAY PUNCH to get the Presidency’s reaction did not yield any positive result on Saturday, as calls made to the telephone line of the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, did not connect.

http://www.punchng.com/news/jonathan-rains-dollars-on-south-west-obas/

Punch, keep collecting ur brown evelop from gullible apc! I hope u pple dnt go the way of Dele Giwa. Useless newspaper supporting useless party! GEJ till punch nwespaper stop collecting brown envelop from apc!

I feel sorry for Buhari because by the time he gets swear into office by May 29 there will be no money left in the nation account for him to start with. I just hope he probe and arrest GEJ and his corrupt kitchen cabinet. #Never again will Nigeria vote a corrupt president like GEJ

GEJ has finished our money kiaaaaa!!!!

they will collect the money and vote BUHARI SIMPLE!!

Buhari: “I don’t have dollars to give you but I will give my all to Nigeria”

Sai Buhari

I LOVE BUHARI I NO GO LIE!!!
I HATE GEJ I NO GO LIE

GEJ want to finish 9ja

[/b][size=18pt][/size]Rubbish punch newspaper collecting brown envelopes from APC, smh the Nation newspaper owned by Tinubu refused to do the propaganda so it doesn't seem suspicious ,politics is a dirty game you need to be smart enough not to be used by their propaganda apc and lies[b][size=18pt][/size]

[s]

temitemi1:
Punch, keep collecting ur brown evelop from gullible apc! I hope u pple dnt go the way of Dele Giwa. Useless newspaper supporting useless party! GEJ till punch nwespaper stop collecting brown envelop from apc!

buharisambisada:
[/b][size=18pt][/size]Rubbish punch newspaper collecting brown envelopes from APC, smh the Nation newspaper owned by Tinubu refused to do the propaganda so it doesn't seem suspicious ,politics is a dirty game you need to be smart enough not to be used by their propaganda apc and lies[b][size=18pt][/size]

[/s]

TRASH!!!!
Eurasia group collected too: Buhari will win by 60%, says Eurasia Group http://dailypost.ng/2015/03/14/international-research-firm-favours-buhari-to-win-march-28-election/

YOU GUYS SHOULD FACE REALITY AND STOP BEING IGNORANT!!
CHANGE HAS COME!!!

Ministry of Works had their budget cut from 100 billion to 11 billion. The implication is that this year there will be lots of abandoned projects and contractors who collected loans to execute projects might become bankrupt.

JonaSatan is busy spreading dollars to Obas with no electoral value, Obas who WILL NEVER campaign for him. The fool's desperation is making him easy to scam by every Ade, Adamu and Ada. Now the easiest thing to sell after gala and lacasera is Presidential Endorsement.



All said and done, by March 28 it shall be:

GMB/PYO........ Till Jonadunce knows that stealing is corruption

kolonigga:
GEJ has finished our money kiaaaaa!!!!

they will collect the money and vote BUHARI SIMPLE!!

Buhari: “I don’t have dollars to give you but I will give my all to Nigeria”

Sai Buhari

you mean all his 150 cows.... ?

garrix8:
Ministry of Works had their budget cut from 100 billion to 11 billion. The implication is that this year there will be lots of abandoned projects and contractors who collected loans to execute projects might become bankrupt.

JonaSatan is busy spreading dollars to Obas with no electoral value, Obas who WILL NEVER campaign for him. The fool's desperation is making him easy to scam by every Ade, Adamu and Ada. Now the easiest thing to sell after gala and lacasera is Presidential Endorsement.



All said and done, by March 28 it shall be:

GMB/PYO........ Till Jonadunce knows that stealing is corruption

Gbam!

temitemi1:
Punch, keep collecting ur brown evelop from gullible apc! I hope u pple dnt go the way of Dele Giwa. Useless newspaper supporting useless party! GEJ till punch nwespaper stop collecting brown envelop from apc!

Now I know why you don't write much before writing your GEJ till whatever nonsense, your written English is really poor.

Raiders:
I feel sorry for Buhari because by the time he gets swear into office by May 29 there will be no money left in the nation account for him to start with. I just hope he probe and arrest GEJ and his corrupt kitchen cabinet. #Never again will Nigeria vote a corrupt president like GEJ

Unfortunately you are right, the rot in the treasury will only be exposed after May 29th when a new party takes over.

Let them chop their share.

Clueless Jona embarrssing Nigeria.

GEJ is disgracing Nigeria , he doesn't act like an intelligent person, well he is not anyways. Instead of telling Nigerians what he achieved in the last 6 years and why they should vote for him again, he is busy jumping from Church to church , sharing money to obas who have only one PVC. Instead of telling millions of Nigerians that have their PVC why they should vote for him. GEJ and his team are doing a beer parlor campaign, you buy few drinks for guys and they hail you till day break . but sorry the clueless one, those days in politics are gone.


Oh, I can't wait for March 28

#Ihavedecided.

Sai GMB 2015

Southeast traditional rulers,una no go collect national cake? Your counterparts in the southwest are enjoying o!

berem:
Southeast traditional rulers,una no go collect national cake? Your counterparts in the southwest are enjoying o!

2nd Niger Bridge is their own nation cake.

Ii just don't understand the crime we committed as a nation to be given a president like this. Each time I look at Jonathan I want to curse Obj.

This is just too damn heartbreaking.

Where my own money nao, abi this man no know say I be Oba? On a more serious note, this is ridiculous.... »»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»» Call (08104025614) for complete video tutorial on web designing (XHTML, CSS, PHP, MySQL, Javascript, JSON etc)

The last time it was pastors given N7b
AIT, N10b
Now obas over N10b. That has only one PVC, one vote.
Some people will still say their is no atom of truth in such reports.
This monies would have being used to provide basic infrastructure and better the lives of Nigerians.
There are families in this country that need N500 to survive in a day.
Jonathan and PDP still thinks that this is the same Nigeria of 20yr back, throw the money to the fools in one week and rape thier resources for another 4yrs.
This Jonathan had 5yrs to sell his mandate to an extent even that the blind can see and testify his achievements. Rather his bent on doling out the dollars in this our crippling economy.
Where is Ngozi Okonjo Iweala to sell her so called Austerity measure?
This is a glare indirect manner of saying that a set of Nigerians are fools. And
I know a lot of people who belong to that set.

bcomputer101:
It's a pity that GEJ never taught of beautifying Nigeria prisons. Because with the way this man is mis-managing our treasury, he may end up in jail.
Somebody should advice him to shoot up(beautify) Nigeria prisons to his taste before he get their.

Leave that guy. He has forgotten 'as you lay your bed, so you sleep on it'.
Beautify prisons, he wouldn't listen. This is his permanent place of abode after May 29th, yet he doesn't wanna beautify it.

Well, it's none of my business

We've had looter presidents, we've had clueless presidents only God knows why he cursed us with a clueless looter president this time around

omenka:
Each time I look at Jonathan I want to curse Obj.

me too

Should this man be this desperate?

Those Obas are not stu.pid naw. They just wanted to "chop and clean" mouth. We all know the source of the money being shared to pay these hefty bribes -- stolen money from corrupt practices. But thank God the PDP's days are numbered.

Let him continue to share our resources to the already rich few, his end is very near.

Sai Buhari.


29milion Farmers,

40million Witches and wizads

25million OPC

22milion RTEAN drivers,

50milion TAN members,

20milions Afenifere/PDP south west voters, have all endorsed Jonathan yet PDP still afraid of PVC?
Who is fooling who??
#jonathanWhy

My hatred for this guy increases by the day, if all this money spent for campaign was well utilized into development of our nation, he wouldn't need to spend much to get our votes. This guy is indeed clueless.

Meanwhile, how far with the traditional rulers in the south east? They don't need to spend much dollars for you to endorse your Ijaw master?

Una cheap ooo

Everybody has a price tag.