Following the face-off between its National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure and the National Treasurer, Mrs Oluchi Opara, over an allegation bordering on financial misappropriation, Labour Party (LP) has suspended the latter, Mrs Opara, for six months.
Oluchi had accused the national chairman of the party, Julius Abure, of squandering N3 billion out of the N3.5 billion raised for the 2023 election campaigns.
The party had also said it did not raise N3.5 billion for the campaign in all their accounts.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the National Publicity Secretary of the Party, Mr Obiora Ifoh, said the party has also set up a disciplinary committee against the national treasurer.
“Arising from the emergency meeting of the National Working Committee of the Labour Party, the leadership of the party has set up a disciplinary committee to try the National Treasurer, Mrs Oluchi Opara, for bringing the party to disrepute and misinforming the general public on the internal affairs of the party which is against the rules and regulations of the party,” the statement read.
The National Publicity Secretary further stated that a meeting was held yesterday in Abuja. It was presided over by the Deputy National Chairman, Mrs Ladi Iliya, where the party extended an invitation to the National Treasurer to appear before it on Wednesday at the Party National Headquarters to show why she will not be sanctioned over her action.
Ifoh however disclosed that the embattled National Treasurer was suspended as a result of her inability to give satisfactory answers to some of the questions put before her.
The party therefore called on the team members of the party to be patient with it while working closely to resolve the issue.
It would be recalled that the National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, in a well-attended press conference in Abuja a few days ago, alleged that the party raised over N3.5 billion from the sale of nomination forms for the 2023 general elections, and the larger part of the money were misused by the National Chairman.
She said, “ All the proceeds from the sale of forms including that from his home state of Edo, were paid into Mr Abure’s private accounts, and he only declared N55 million to me as Treasurer, out of over N3.5 billion raised from the forms we sold.”
