The presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and CEO of Roots TV, Dumebi Kachikwu, on Wednesday revealed his wife pleaded with him to bribe delegates in the just-concluded presidential primary of the party to avoid disgrace.

He said that despite not spending a dime for delegates before the primary election, he was surprised he defeated aspirants who shared money to delegates.

Kachikwu revealed these while speaking with journalists in Abuja. He also said that after his victory, several calls he put to one of his opponents were not picked nor returned.

He said, “I had a banquet for all the delegates, announced to them that I was an aspirant but told them I didn’t have money (and that) they should vote their conscience so that if I win, my conscience will be free that I didn’t pay.

“If I lost, I have my business to go back to. So, I don’t have to be a President to work for Nigeria. I left them that night, not knowing what my fate would be.

“I announced to them that I was not going to give anybody money. Some were upset, I left them not knowing what my fate was. My opponents shared money to the delegates. In the morning of the next day, my wife said, ‘Please, spend this money on the delegates to avoid disgrace, you have it’ and I told her my conscience forbids that. I thought it was over. I was already delivering my speech accepting defeat when I saw that the body language of the delegates had changed. They were smiling with me.

“The most painful thing was to see losers go to the media to desecrate the process which produced me. They were telling lies to the public," he added. (The PUNCH)

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