The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) has taken a new twist as the embattled National Treasurer of the party, Ms. Oluchi Oparah, has asked the National Chairman of the party, Mr. Julius Abure, to step down for unhindered investigation.
Oparah, who was recently suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC), said he needed to step aside to allow a transparent investigation into the allegations of the finances of the party.
Oparah spoke in an interview following the dismissal of her allegation that Abure misappropriated N3.5 billion.
Abure had on Thursday dismissed her allegation, saying that what entered into the party’s accounts was N1.3 billion, in addition to another N700 million that came into the campaign fund.
Abure had also alleged that Oparah was suspended from her position as treasurer in 2017 over alleged inconsistencies in the accounts of the party.
Responding to his assertions, Oparah also questioned the decision of the national chairman to send the audited accounts to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) without her signature.
She said: “He said he had tendered it to INEC, (but) with whose signature? Why would you tender an audit report to INEC without my signature?
“Why would he give it to the National Secretary to endorse? What am I doing?
“The first time that they brought this (audited report) to me, there was a position for me to sign but when I said I wasn’t going to sign it, the next thing he did was to remove the part I was supposed to sign.”, she explained.
According to Oparah, in addition to the N1.3 billion and the N700 million were other funds that came into the party’s accounts during the off-cycle elections.
She said, “ For the reruns, we had over N30 million, this Edo that we are in now will have over N200 Million, Kogi, Bayelsa, Imo, we had over N958 Million. I have not even added the diaspora figures”.
Asserting that she was not being sponsored to smear Peter Obi as alleged by the leadership of Labour Party, Oluchi Oparah said:
“This is not about Peter Obi. Peter Obi is a very wonderful person. I will support him with everything I have. Peter Obi has been an exemplary leader.
“Let him (Abure) step aside; let there be an investigation. Let the NWC see reasons with me that I am not fighting a personal fight, No.
“I have been writing letters for the past seven months. I was trying to exhaust the internal mechanisms of our party but unfortunately, it failed.”
She also hinted that she would seek legal redress over her suspension as the national treasurer for six months by the party, claiming that she was not given a fair hearing.
Earlier on Thursday, the national leader of the party and the presidential candidate of the party in the last presidential election, Obi, had called for a transparent investigation into the financial allegations against Abure.
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