Labour Party treasurer fights chairman over N3.5bn

A fresh crisis is brewing in the Labour Party (LP) over the 2023 general election finances.

The National Treasurer, Mrs. Oluchi Oparah, has demanded accountability from the National Chairman, Julius Abure, over N3.5 billion realized from sales of forms and other donations to the party.

Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Monday, February 12, 2024, Opara said that LP has been plagued with financial mismanagement and corruption.

She alleged that Abure owns several houses and property.

Oparah said: “I stand before you today with a heavy heart and a sense of duty to the principles of transparency, accountability, and justice. 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 party funds.

“His appetite for power has grown unchecked, and he has deliberately undermined my duties and authority as stipulated in the party’s constitution.”

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Meanwhile, the party has dismissed the allegations.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, said: “With the exception of the National Treasurer whose tenure is about to end in few weeks’ time, and who has served for 8 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 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 Oluchi Opara don’t even understand simple accounting even as a treasurer. An External Auditor is engaged by the party and our account is under constant scrutiny of INEC or other regulatory bodies.

“Abure does not own several houses and property as spuriously alleged by our estranged National Treasurer, even though no law prohibits him from owning properties.”

The Star