Julius Abure, the Chairman of the Labour Party has said the suspended National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara lied when she made allegations of corruption against him and the party.
Abure who appeared on the Morning Show on Arise TV earlier today, narrated and displayed a trove of documents which showed that Oluchi Opara, was part of the signatories to the Labour Party bank accounts.
Abure also revealed that he took over the reins of the party in March 2021 while Oluchi Opara had been the Treasurer of the party for many years before that period.
The Chairman of the party explained that the signatories to the party accounts were the National Chairman, Secretary and the Treasurer.
Recall that Oluchi Opara, who has now been suspended for six months by the National Working Committee of the Labour Party, had gone to the media with allegations of corruption against Julius Abure. She also alleged that Abure had prevented her from performing her duties as National Treasurer, and that he tried to bribe her with cash, a car and a house.
This led to the appearance of Julius Abure on the Morning show to counter the allegations.
Abure had denied the allegations and provided photocopies of bank cheques in which Oluchi Opara was one of the signatories as evidence of her doing her duties as National Secretary.
He also dismissed the allegations of receipt of N3.5 billion which Oluchi Opara has said the party received for the 2023 elections. Abure said the total amount received was N2 billion. In addition, he categorically denied any ambitions to vie for the Edo State Governorship slot, which elections are schedule for September 2024.
The Labour Party which performed excellently in the 2023 presidential and national elections had been embroiled in crisis ever since it proved itself as very credible opposition party in Nigeria.
The emergence of Peter Obi as the presidential candidate of the party had galvanized the youths and many usually dormant voting segments, to turn out in large numbers to vote for the parties candidates in the 2023 elections.
The first sign of crisis was the emergence of a rival faction led by Lamidi Apapa who declared himself as a factional chairman of the party and was evidently working at cross purposes against the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
It is believed that the crisis is contrived is sponsored by rival political parties. This point was corroborated by Julius Abure in the interview. Abure declined to mention names but confirmed that the Labour Party performance and upward rise was a threat to the establishment.
