REVEALED: Ex-PDP deputy national chairman who joined APC standing trial for N500m fraud

Babayo Gamawa, the former deputy national chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Tuesday following his suspension by the PDP, is standing trial for N500 million fraud.

Gamawa, alongside five others, is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Gamawa and five chieftains of the PDP in Bauchi State are alleged to have received an illicit N500 million for the 2015 campaigns of the party.

The money, according to the EFCC, was part of public funds allegedly diverted for the elections by ex-petroleum minister, Diezani Allison-Madueke.

The commission charged Gamawa and other accused persons before a federal high court in Bauchi, in June, 2018.

Despite his ongoing corruption case, Gamawa, like some other defectors in the past, was welcomed into the fold of the APC hours after he was suspended for alleged anti-party activities by the PDP.

Read also: Suspended PDP Dep Nat’l Chairman joins APC

He was received by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Tuesday evening.

Gamawa was led to the president by Bauchi State governor, Mohammed Abubakar, and was joined by another defector, Kaulaha Aliyu, a member of the PDP’s Board of Trustees.

A spokesperson for Buhari, Femi Adesina, shared pictures of the president and Gamawa late on Tuesday, describing him as a “new entrant into APC”.

Adesina had written, “President Buhari receives in audience New Entrant into APC Former Deputy National Chairman of PDP Senator Babayo Garba Gamawa and Hon. Kaulaha Aliyu alongside Bauchi State Governor in State House on 8th Jan 2019”.

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