Former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Fela Durotoye, has revealed that he turned down an opportunity to siphon N5 billion in a fraudulent government deal, despite intense pressure from a high-ranking official who identified as a pastor.
Speaking at the biannual conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) in Abuja on Tuesday, Durotoye detailed how he was approached with a lucrative training contract that had already been “approved” for him. The contract was designed to cover all 774 local government areas in Nigeria within eight weeks.
Durotoye and his team initially prepared an invoice of N1.3 billion, but the official insisted that the amount was too low. To his surprise, he was encouraged to inflate the invoice to N5 billion, with a promise of an additional N700 million to bring the contract sum to N2 billion.
The official justified the scheme by claiming it was not a case of corruption but rather a form of “compensation” for serving the country.
“When I reminded him that the blessings of God make one rich and add no sorrow, he fired back, saying, ‘There is no sorrow in this one. You have been doing well for Nigeria. It is time for Nigeria to do well for you,’” Durotoye recounted.
As pressure mounted, he said he ultimately switched off his phone to cut off further communication.
Three months later, Durotoye claimed, some officials in the presidency were arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for allegedly diverting N426 million from an ethical leadership training fund.
‘I Served Without Salary, Official Car, or Housing’
Durotoye, who recently resigned as Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on National Values and Social Justice, also disclosed that he did not earn a salary while in office.
“I did not collect an official car, I did not collect a house, and I did not collect a salary for serving,” he stated, adding that this made it difficult for government officials to link him to corruption.
His revelation has sparked discussions on integrity in public service, with many hailing his decision as a rare demonstration of ethical leadership in Nigerian politics.
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