From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
A fresh crisis has erupted within the Julius Abure-led Labour Party, with Oluchi Opara, the party’s national treasurer, demanding accountability for the party’s N3.5 billion.
During a news briefing in Abuja, yesterday, he said the finances were proceeds from the sales of forms and other fundraising activities for the 2023 general elections in the country.
The LP treasurer said: “With great reluctance and deep concern, I am compelled to publicly address the media regarding the egregious financial mismanagement and corruption that have plagued our beloved party under the leadership of Mr. Julius Abure, the current National Chairman.
“As national treasurer, I am constrained to come before you and the public today because the internal mechanisms of our party have failed woefully to bring Mr. Abure to account for his brazen abuse of office and misappropriation of the party’s funds. His appetite for power has grown unchecked, and he has deliberately undermined my duties and authority as stipulated in the party’s constitution.”
Meanwhile, the LP has refuted the position of the party’s treasurer, claiming that Opara had read a “concocted statement drafted by detractors to tarnish the image of the party,” and that the accusations were baseless.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, threatened to drag Opara before the disciplinary committee and impose proper sanctions on her.
The statement read: “The attention of the leadership of the party has been drawn to a news conference by our National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara, where she raised a number of allegations against the National Chairman, Julius Abure, concerning corruption and abuse of office.
“With the exception of the National Treasurer, whose tenure is about to end in a few weeks’ time, and who has served for eight years as National Treasurer without a single record of party accounts, no other member of the national working committee has raised any issue of embezzlement against our National Chairman, who made a pledge on the assumption that the party has to be revamped
“Evidence is our proactive outing in the 2023 general election as the party presented for the first time a very good presidential candidate.
“Let it be said that the Labour Party has not earned N3.5 billion as claimed and that the National Chairman has not embezzled any money that belongs to the party as alleged. The records are there, except that Ms Opara doesn’t even understand simple accounting, even as a treasurer. The party engages an external auditor, and our account is under constant scrutiny by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other regulatory bodies,” the statement noted.
The party insisted that Abure did not own several houses and property, as alleged by the national treasurer, even when no law prohibits him from doing so.