Key points:
- Aisha Yesufu dismisses all that Julius Abure has to say about Labour Party’s campaign funds.
- All the same Abure said he never benefited from the campaign donations given by Peter Obi to the party.
- Yesufu smears Labour Party for not being clear on the source of their campaign funds.
In a rather passionate response to recent statements by the Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure, Aisha Yesufu, an activist and chairperson of Obi-Datti fundraising committee discredits the allegations made over her involvement in handling of Peter Obi’s campaign funds in the 2023 general elections.
Abure, who testified before the tribunal, had said Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo of handling all the campaign fathom involving money, leaving him out of contention of managing the party donation.
Abure spoke to reporters after a Labour Party National Executive Council sittings in Abuja where he dismissed the allegations of rigging the campaign donations.
He further affirmed that he had no control over the cash flow of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi to warrant controlling how the money is utilised.
However, in a video that she uploaded to her official YouTube channel, Yesufu dismissed Abure’s statement as a big fat lie.” While speaking, she said that contrary to what Abure had informed the panel; he had been involved in the release of the campaign finances.
As Yesufu rightly noted, Abure had opened a Labour Party account for campaigning and called it the “N1000 Challenge” that was advertised before the 2023 elections. The initiative urged supporters to deposit at least N1000 to Labour Party Zenith Bank account.
According to The Vanguard, Yesufu who was well famed for her advocacy of accountable governance frowned at the decision to open the account claiming frustration and lack of accountability in how the party has been handling the finances of the country. She said that unlike the Obi-Datti team which was very LAWYERLY in the way it articulated its campaign accounts management, the Labour Party under Abure has never offered any reasonable accounting of the funds generated through the N1000 Challenge.
Fundraising Transparency Issues
Yesufu was also very much concerned on how the collected funds were utilised as noted in the following passages. More importantly, it also made concerns over the transparency of funds deposited in the Labour Party account as she clarified that none of the campaign fundraising team, including herself, had control of the money.
Yesufu also pointed out that there was no way fundraising was being done by only her and Pastor Itua Ighodalo as had been painted by Abure but there were three signatories.
Yesufu further said that to date, the Labour Party, has not explained how the monies that were donated to it by the public were utilized during the election campaign. She therefore accuses the Labour Party of failing in terms of accountability which is a major problem in determining the credibility of the internal financial processes of the party and its leadership on how they manage contributions from the public domain.
Following these conflicting statements, Yesufu’s critique of Abure highlights the tensions within the Labour Party especially as regards to the issue of accounting, and governance of party funds.
While both the PDP and APC argue over the events of the matter, the public can only wonder about the management of campaign finances during the 2023 elections, as another a aspect to Nigeria’s crisis.
