Ms. Oluchi Oparah, the relieved National Treasurer of the Labour Party, has thrown down the gauntlet to the party’s top brass, urging the National Chairman, Julius Abure, to transparently detail the contributions amassed from Nigerian expatriates during the extensive campaign voyage of LP’s presidential hopeful, Peter Obi, across the United States.
Recent revelations obtained by Africa Today News, New York, indicate that the national leadership of the Labour Party has placed Opara under a six-month suspension, triggered by her assertion that Abure siphoned off N3.5 billion purportedly garnered from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising campaigns ahead of the 2023 general election.
But Abure maintained that there was no N3.5bn raised, saying: ‘Total summary of the money that entered into the party was N1.3bn. We also got N800m for the campaign. I want to challenge her to make the records available where she got the sum of N3.5bn.’
However, unyielding in her accusations, Opara, during a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Sunday, reiterated her demand for Abure to provide a detailed explanation of the finances amassed during the LP presidential campaign journey in the United States.
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Opara said, ‘Abure used the name of the party to raise funds during the United States campaign tour. They reflected in all the documents and tickets I printed out. We have the tickets for $500 and $100 in the name of the party. But Abure returned and didn’t drop a dime. We are talking about a man who uses proxy accounts to withdraw money from the party.’
‘Again, for 10 to 11 months, Abure has been the only one withdrawing the money. I don’t know how he does it, whether by forgery or other means. We are three signatories to the accounts but the third person, a former chairman, is dead now.’
When contacted, Abure denied any wrongdoing, saying Opara was merely out to tarnish his image.
He said, ‘We made changes to the account. That was how we were able to run the party from January 2021 to March 2021 when we had the NEC meeting in Benin, where I emerged as the national chairman of the party. All the money withdrawn between January and March 2021 was co-signed with the acting national chairman, Maria Lebeke.’
He further noted that that during his tenure as national secretary, stringent procedures were in place to address withdrawals from the account. He emphasized that any withdrawal required the approval of a co-signatory, thereby preventing unilateral access to funds.
The appointment of a new acting chairman was highlighted, whose responsibility included co-signing all cheques alongside Opara. This procedural adjustment was deemed necessary to facilitate the party’s operations effectively.
Furthermore, the former secretary underscored the active involvement of Maria Lebeke, who frequently co-signed various party activities during that period, as evident from the provided account.