The Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, has said that he was so poor that he couldn’t afford to pay the N22.5 million All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial forms.
He said this was in contrary to insinuation that he was rich as a Minister under President Muhammadu Buhari.
Shittu added that he could not purchase the forms until those who believed in him came to his aid to buy the forms.
The gubernatorial aspirant made these revelations while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the state capital, on Saturday.
Shittu, while responding to a question on the exorbitant fees charged by the party, said he was a poor man and there was no way he could pay such a ‘huge money’.
InsideOYO.com had exclusively reported that the Saki-born minister purchased the gubernatorial forms through two of his aides, Saheed Oladele, Head of Adebayo Shittu Strategy Committee and Malik Aderogba, Head of Special Tasks for Adebayo Shittu’s Campaign Organization, two weeks ago.
He said, “It is inconceivable that I can have such money to buy the nomination form.
“Those very close to me knew this fact. That I cannot on my own put down N22.5million. As a minister under President Muhammadu Buhari, there was no way I could pay such money. This is not a PDP government and you cant have money like those under the PDP. I earn less than a million naira a month and there are people who depend on me for survival”.
The minister insisted that it was those people who believed in him that bought the forms for him.
He added, “It was those who believe that the best thing to happen to Oyo State is for Adebayo Shittu to become Governor that paid for the form. I thank God for the opportunities I have had in life and the greatest being the Minister.”