The 36 state chairmen of the Labour Party on Tuesday dismissed the corruption allegation levelled against the embattled National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure.
The chairmen said, ‘No money was missing.’
The council of state chairmen also backed the call by the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, for an independent firm to carry out a forensic audit of the party account, adding that they are convinced the audit will clear Abure.
The development comes one week after the National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Oparah, (now suspended) challenged the LP chairman to account for N3.5bn raised from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising activities in the build-up to the 2023 general election.
Opara also claimed Abure didn’t remit the donations received from Nigerians in the Diaspora during Obi’s campaign tour in the United States.
But Abure denied all her allegations when he was featured on Arise News as a guest on Thursday morning.
Armed with some documents and copies of cheques allegedly signed by the treasurer, Abure lamented that the corruption allegations against him were orchestrated to dent his image.
Rising from an emergency meeting held at the national secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, Chairman of Labour Party Council of State Chairmen, Ceekay Igara, lamented that it was unfortunate how the National Working Committee allowed external forces to create a crisis to unsettle the party they painstakingly built.
Igara also denied that the council was behind the vote of no confidence passed on Abure on Sunday by a group.
While backing the call for a forensic audit of the party account, the council chairman said it was convinced that no money was misappropriated as against the claim of the suspended national treasurer.
He said, “The audit report prepared by the external auditor is very clear about the finances of the party. Let me emphatically state here that our money is not missing. We didn’t generate N3.5b as claimed by the now-suspended national treasurer.
“We can confirm that the party only realised N1.3 million during the 2023 general election and another N700m donation, which was used by the Presidential Campaign Council.
“All these monies were lodged in the banks and were promptly receipted. The audit is also clear about the money generated during the off-season elections and how it was managed. From the records, virtually all the cheques were signed by her and the national chairman. It is obvious she may have been influenced to lie against the national chairman.
“Our leader, Peter Obi, has mediated privately on this matter. He is also aware that the sustained attacks against Abure are sponsored and politically motivated. His decision to involve an independent auditor is a welcome development and we believe that the outcome will exonerate Julius Abure as well as expose the lies being peddled by the suspended treasurer.”
