The Obi-Datti 2023 Presidential Campaign team has denied the claims made by the National Chairman of the Labour Party, LP, Julius Abure regarding the management of campaign funds for the Peter Obi presidential campaign.
Abure, during an interview with journalists in Abuja after a National Executive Council meeting on Monday, refuted accusations of misusing campaign funds made against him by his critics, stating that the allegations were untrue.
He had stated that only Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo oversaw the handling of campaign funds, including disbursements for party agents.
According to him, the party which he presided over as national chairman wasn’t involved.
“The party and I have been accused of being responsible for Peter Obi’s failure in the 2023 general election.
“They stated that the campaign, election donations, and funds for the payment of agents were mismanaged by the party hence Peter Obi failed in the election.
“The election funding was done by Obi himself. As per the donations, the party was not involved. The signatories to these accounts were Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo. They were equally responsible for the payment of Polling Unit Agents.
“Consequently, it is mischievous for any person to accuse me and the party of mismanagement of these funds. At no time did the Party or its officials engage in any financial transactions as it relates to the presidential campaign,” he narrated.
In response to his statements, Yesufu, who also led the fundraising team for the Obi campaign, labeled Abure as untruthful in a widely circulated video on her official YouTube channel on Tuesday.
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Yesufu dared Abure to disclose how he utilized the funds from the ‘Labour Party N1,000 Challenge’ campaign donations he has been collecting since 2022.
She said, “That statement Abure made was a big fat lie. He thinks it was like those days when they used to do their Labour unionism when nobody had internet or keep records; those days they got away with everything. When it comes to certain things, I am a very detailed and process-driven person.
“There were times when the fundraising team was frustrated with me because of my insistence on due process. Before Mr Obi came out with his campaign account, the Labour Party had theirs.
“I have with me here a ‘Labour Party N1,000 Challenge’ post that was tweeted on 24/11/22. It said ‘Take ownership of the LP campaign by donating a minimum of N1,000 to Labour Party Zenith Account 1225832294.
“When that account was opened by Abure, I was very angry. I remember some people harmlessly saying it was no big deal since it was for the same Labour Party campaign.
“But I insisted that it is not the same thing because we don’t have access to any money that went into the LP account and therefore can’t use it to facilitate the electioneering campaign.
“So for Julius Abure to come out in 2024 to blatantly lie that they were not involved in any campaign, saying it was only Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua (is unbelievable).
“By the way, there are three signatories, not two as he said. Up till now, the LP has not accounted for the money the public donated to them neither have they accounted for the money used to procure forms.”
These are coming six months after Yesufu revealed that the fundraising team had collected donations amounting to N596 million from party supporters, obedient movements, and benevolent Nigerians worldwide.
She mentioned that Obi also allocated N744,500,000 for legal expenses after his defeat in the 2023 presidential election.
