How I Rejected N5bn Fraudulent Gov’t Deal Amid Pressure — Durotoye

Leadership Coach and former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN), Fela Durotoye, has disclosed that he once turned down a N5billion fraudulent government deal despite pressure from a government official.

Durotoye narrated this experience at the ongoing biannual conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), in Abuja on Tuesday.

He mentioned that an official, who professed to be a pastor, approached him with a lucrative training contract, informing him that he had been chosen to train individuals across all 774 local government areas in Nigeria.

Durotoye said he prepared an invoice as requested and his team calculated a fair price of N1.3billion for the training, he added that three days later, he received a call from the presidency, congratulating him that he had secured the job.

“But they said the amount I was asking for was too small. They promised to add N700m to make it N2bn. Then they asked me to submit an invoice for N5bn,” he said.

Durotoye said he questioned the ethics of inflating the price, especially for a training centred on ethical leadership, but the official dismissed his concerns.

“The man assured me he wasn’t ripping off Nigeria.

“He said he had served the country and deserved compensation. 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 said.

Durotoye said he switched off his phone while the conversation was ongoing because the official was bent on inflating the price, and that three months later, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) apprehended some presidency officials for stealing N426m from an ethical leadership training fund.

The Leadership Coach highlighted the importance of strong moral values reminiscing on his time serving under the President Bola Tinubu administration as Special Assistant.

“Only your values can help you turn down corrupt tendencies,” he said.

“I did not collect an official car, I did not collect a house, and I did not collect a salary for serving.

“It was difficult to get my letter out because, according to somebody in government, my refusal to collect those things would make it difficult to pin me to corruption,” he stated.