Labour Party State Chairmen Affirm Confidence In Abure, Debunk Missing N3.5 Billion

The 36 state chairmen of the Labour Party (LP) have affirmed confidence in the ability and leadership of Julius Abure as the party’s National Chairman.

The state chairmen passed a vote of confidence on Abure and the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) on Tuesday during a solidarity visit to the Labour Party national headquarters in Abuja.

The chairmen, led by Ceekay Igara, said Abure and the NWC  have displayed a high level of integrity and administrative capacity and have their support to continue running the affairs of the party.

“We are here to pay a solidarity visit to the entire members of the National Working Committee of our great party and particularly to our National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure.

“We are here to reinforce our confidence on the Barrister Abure’s leadership of the Labour Party and his ability to provide good and transparent leadership.

“We are here also to use the opportunity to respond to some of the spurious and unfounded allegations that are being made generally on the leadership of the party especially the one that has to do with mismanagement of funds of the party and lack of transparency in the management of the affairs of the party.

“We are a critical part of the leadership of the Labour Party being members of the National Executive Committee.

“This present NWC is our baby and we have entrusted our collective trust on it having carefully selected it based on the members pedigree, integrity and administrative capacity to lead the rest of us.

“This leadership has displayed high level of transparency in the management of the party finances. The audit report as prepared by the external auditor is very clear about the finances of the party,” Igara said.

Report Of Missing N3.5bn Untrue

The leader of the state chairmen also debunked the allegation by the suspended National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, on misappropriation of N3.5bn party funds.

According to Igara, the Labour Party didn’t realize up to that amount during the 2023 elections.

Igara said, “Let me emphatically state here that our money is not missing. We didn’t generate N3.5b as claimed by the now suspended National Treasurer.

“We can confirm that the party only realized N1.3 million during the 2023 general election and another Seven Hundred Million naira donations which was used by the Presidential Campaign Council.

“ All these monies were lodged in the banks and were promptly receipted. The audit is also clear about the money generated during the off season elections and how it was managed.

“Her allegation that the National Chairman didn’t allow her perform her duties was also a huge lies. In all our financial dealings with the national headquarters, she has always being the officer that has attended to us. From the records, virtually all the cheques were signed by her and the National Chairman.

“ It is obvious she may have been influenced to lie against the National Chairman.”

Why Peter Obi Is Silent

He added that the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi is silent on the allegations because he knows the truth.

“You may be wondering why our National Leader and Presidential Candidate in the last general election, Peter Obi, seems to be silent on this matter.

“The truth is that our leader has mediated privately on this matter, he is also aware that the sustained attacks against Barrister Abure are sponsored and are politically motivated.

“Again, our leader knows the role the National Chairman played during the process of his joining the party, after he joined the party and even during the campaign; he is aware of the immense sacrifices made by the leadership of the party for the project to become a reality.

“ He is also aware that all the allegations are unfounded and spurious. That is why he chose to remain silent because he knows the truth.

“He also knows that the national chairman is honest and dedicated and he is also passionate about the growth and development of the party.

“His decision to involve an independent auditor is a welcome one and we believe that the outcome will finally exonerate Julius Abure and also expose the lies being peddled by the suspended Treasurer.

“ It is very clear that the sponsored crisis is the handwork of our political opponents that are afraid of the future of the party.

“They are probably nursing fears and are looking for every opportunity to derail the party and to ensure that it is unable to realize its set goals. Labour Party is a dynamite and the fear of the party is the beginning of wisdom for our opponents.”

The council of chairmen also said those who earlier called for Abure’s suspension are party renegades and a “group of urchins..”

He said, “We do not know them; they are not our members. Seated here today in our national headquarters are the authentic state chairmen of the Labour Party recognized by the INEC.

“Those men were touts picked on the streets and baptized with titles as state chairmen by the dissident former members of the party. It is no longer news as to who they are working for and what their assignments are.

“Today, we have expressed our satisfaction with the way our party is run and we have passed a vote of confidence on Barrister Julius Abure and his executive.

“We thank them for being true patriots and we pray the posterity will be kind to them for all the sacrifices they are making to salvage this nation at huge price they are paying now.”