By Olaitan Ibrahim
Former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for New Nigeria, and leadership coach, Fela Durotoye has recounted how he turned down a N5bn fraudulent government deal despite pressure from a government official.
Durotoye, while narrating the experience at the ongoing biannual conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria in Abuja, on Tuesday, February 11, 2025, said the official approached him with a lucrative training contract.
He said the official, who claimed to be a pastor, told him he’s been selected for the job which involved training people in all 774 local government areas of Nigeria.
The leadership coach said upon request, he prepared an invoice and his team calculated a fair price of N1.3 bn for the training.
According to him, 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 recalled.
While the conversation was ongoing, Durotoye said he switched off his phone because the official was bent on inflating the price.
He said three months later, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission arrested some presidency officials for stealing N426m from an ethical leadership training fund.