The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the party will kick off its presidential campaign on October 10.

This is coming amid controversy over the return of money by some members of the National Working Committee (NWC).

The PDP National Organising Secretary, Umar Bature, disclosed this in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday.

On what action the party leadership would take on those who returned the money, Bature said they must have their reasons for doing so.

Asked if there were other members of the NWC who were willing to return their own share of the money, Bature said the party leadership will not be bothered by any distraction.

However, another NWC member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said those that returned the money did not do so in good faith.

He said: “Those who returned the money did so because they have a lot of money. But what we all know is that somebody gave them the money they returned.

“Note that they returned the money two weeks after it was paid into their accounts. Are they now claiming that they were not aware that they money hit their bank accounts until after two weeks?

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“If some people have chosen to play politics of division, then goodluck to them. It’s all politics. But I can assure you that nobody else is going to return any money because it was a legitimate entitlement that followed established process of approval”.Four members of the NWC, had returned acummulative N122.4 million paid into their accounts by the leadership of the party.

The four party officers were the Deputy National Chairman (South), Taofeek Arapaja; National Vice Chairman (South-South), Chief Dan Orbih; National Women Leader, Prof. Stella Affah-Attoe; and National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Olusoji Adagunodo.

In separate letters to Ayu, the four party chiefs stated that they did not know what purpose the money was meant for.

However, the spokesman for the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, said the money was meant for their housing allowance.

He denied speculations that the money was a bribe, insisting that the disbursement followed proper approval procedures.

Wike and four other PDP governors in his camp have scheduled another meeting of the group for Abia State.

The meeting will be a follow-up to the one held in Enugu yesterday by the five governors.

It was gathered that the five governors discussed their position on the call for the resignation of Ayu at the Enugu meeting.

Those at the meeting were Governors Samuel Ortom (Benue), Nyesom Wike (Rivers), Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu), Seyi Makinde (Oyo)and Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia).

The five governors had boycotted last Wednesday’s inuaguration of the PDP presidential candidate council over the rift between Wike and the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.