A People’s Democratic Party (PDP) agent in Ogun State, Femi Adedayo, has admitted to distributing prepaid ATM cards to voters during the March 18, 2023 gubernatorial election, as directed by party leaders.
Adedayo made this admission during the hearing of a case involving multiple counts of vote buying and other offences against the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Ladi Adebutu. The case is being heard by Hon. Justice A.A Akinyemi of the Ogun State High Court.
The prosecution team, led by Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, presented three witnesses to support the vote-buying charges against Adebutu.
One of the prosecution’s key witnesses, Celestina Appeal, a Zenith Bank employee, was called to conclude her testimony. She revealed that the prepaid cards were not fully funded until March 16, 2023.
The funding details were included in an account statement dated March 3, titled “card usage analysis.”
Appeal stated: “On the 18th, 65,677 cards were used, with a total of 67,581 transactions. On the 19th, 81,060 cards were used, with a total of 84,360 transactions. On the 20th, 14,999 cards were used, with a total of 160,009 transactions.
Approximately 160,000 cards were used in three days. By ‘used,’ I mean cash withdrawals were made. Apart from the request in Exhibit 22, 23 for 200,000 cards, no additional requests were made.”
It was previously reported that some PDP members were apprehended by security agents during the election, found with prepaid Verve cards issued by Zenith Bank, bearing the name Dame Caroline Adebutu, the late mother of Ladi Adebutu.
Ladi Adebutu and other PDP leaders were subsequently arraigned in court, with multiple exhibits and witnesses presented to support the allegations against them.
On Thursday, Adedayo, testifying as PW 10, under cross-examination, explained that on March 18, 2023, the day of the gubernatorial election, he and several other party agents went to a PDP leader’s house to receive prepaid cards for distribution.
The party agents were given bundles of cards and instructed to encourage people to vote for PDP, promising to treat them well and give them the cards if they voted accordingly. Adedayo mentioned that after accreditation, the canvassers would confirm that voters had chosen PDP and then give them the prepaid cards.
In a separate testimony, PW9, Segun Olabowale, a PDP member, stated that he received 54 cards, kept four for himself, used five to canvass for votes, and gave the rest to a colleague.
He explained that after the election, he converted the prepaid cards into cash through a POS operator near the polling unit, withdrawing N40,000 on March 18 and 19, 2023.
Following these confessions, the PDP’s lead counsel, Gordy Uche, SAN, requested an adjournment, which the judge granted. The case is set to continue on June 5, 6, and 7, 2024.
