The National Treasurer of the Labour Party (LP), Oluchi Opara, has made a series of allegations against the party’s chairman, Julius Abure. She claims that he has misappropriated about N3.5 billion in party finances and has been in talks with the government of Edo State, led by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Opara made these accusations at a news conference on Tuesday, where she also demanded accountability and transparency from Abure. She said that the party’s finances were proceeds from the sales of forms and other fundraising activities for the 2023 general elections in the country.
She also alleged that the signature of the late national chairman of the party, Abdulkadir Salami, was forged two months after his death to withdraw money from the party’s account.
“How on earth did he come out from his grave to come and sign signature?,” she questioned.
Opara challenged Abure to come out clear and say that she has lied against him. She also said that the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, was not in the right position to defend Abure.
Abure denies allegations
In response to Opara’s allegations, Abure issued a statement through Ifoh, where he denied any wrongdoing and accused Opara of being under some external influences.
He said that Opara has served for eight years as National Treasurer without a single record of party accounts and that she does not understand simple accounting.
Abure also said that the party engages an External Auditor and that its account is under constant scrutiny by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or other regulatory bodies. He added that the party has not earned N3.5 billion as claimed and that he has not embezzled any money that belongs to the party.
He urged the party members and the public to disregard Opara’s allegations, which he described as malicious and baseless.
Edo PDP’s government silent
The government of Edo State, which Opara accused of being in alliance with Abure, has not issued any statement on the matter.
The state is currently governed by Godwin Obaseki, who defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP in 2020 and won a second term in office.
The LP, which is one of the opposition parties in the state, did not field any candidate for the governorship election. The party, however, participated in the 2023 general elections, where it presented a presidential candidate, Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya-Davies.
The party also fielded candidates for other elective positions, such as the National Assembly and the state assemblies.
Source: Punch
