The internal crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) has exposed it as not far-flung from other political parties, and fast diminishing in goodwill garnered at the 2023 general election. Except it is just a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for the political interests of a few, and not really a breath of fresh air as anticipated, handlers must show that LP is capable of fiscal accountability to regain respect, JOHN AKUBO reports.

Until 2022, when former Anambra State Governor, Mr Peter Obi, adopted the Labour Party (LP) as the platform for his presidential bid, political observers saw the party as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for electoral ambitions.

Its contributions to national discourse as one of the opposition parties were nearly zero while allegations from candidates that their names were substituted because of their inability to satisfy the personal demands of some leaders were rampant.

However, with Obi and some eminent Nigerians joining the party ahead of the 2023 general elections, the narrative is changing. Its ticket for almost all elective positions became highly competitive, just as discipline and accountability allegedly lacking in the party was being investigated to install sanity and confidence of members.

The spokesperson of the Obi-Datti campaign in the 2023 general elections, Yinusa Tanko, told The Guardian that though there are challenges in what the leadership of the LP is doing to rebuild the party, the truth remains that the issue of allegations is still with the police and the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC).

Expressing confidence that the party will come out stronger after the crisis and investigation, he said, “It gladdens my heart at the moment that the leader of the party, Peter Gregory Obi, has called for an independent investigation into the allegations by whosoever was making it.

The beauty of it is that the party has subjected itself to public scrutiny, which no political party has done before. So, we must give kudos to the party for being open to any kind of investigation.”

Another chieftain of the party, Anthony Ebere, said the outcome of the crisis would assist LP to re-organise itself for future challenges. What Obi met was not too good, but he had to play along for the election to pass and now that all litigations have ended, this is an opportunity to rebuild the party to attract more credible politicians.

He said: “Don’t be surprised that many Obidients that formed 70 per cent of people associated with the party will tell you that they are not LP members, but they are simply Obidients that are following Obi wherever he goes. So, the outcome of the investigation should be used to restructure the party.”

Dissatisfied with the way accounts of the party were being run, the National Treasurer, Oluchi Oparah, accused the national chairman, Julius Abure, of misappropriating N3.5 billion raised from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising activities in the build-up to the 2023 general election.

But Abure denied the allegation, stating, “I want to make it clear that it is not true that the party has collected N3.5 billion. The total money that entered the party’s account between 2022 and now is N1.3 billion. We also got N700 million, which were campaign funds that went straight to the campaign organisation for the campaigns. I don’t know where she got the N3.5 billion that she talked about.”

Without investigating Oparah’s allegation, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party slammed a six-month suspension on her “for daring to bring the party into disrepute.”

While the crisis ensued, a faction of the forum of the state chairmen of the party led by the Abia State chairman, Ceekay Igara, passed a vote of confidence on Abure in Abuja. However, another faction of state party chairmen met in Bauchi under the leadership of the Plateau State chairman, Solomon Ndam passed a vote of no confidence on the embattled national chairman of the party and called for his resignation.

Apparently miffed by the allegation, which has polarised state chapters of the party, Obi insisted that transparency must be brought to bear through the instrumentality of an independent auditor to lay to rest once and for all the allegations and counter-allegations.

Obi, who spoke while rendering an account of his campaign organisation said, “What we need to do in the party, and I have discussed it with the leadership, is that we must now appoint a reputable audit firm to audit and be able to deal with the account of the party. When I am involved in anywhere money is involved, it must be transparent. So, the allegations and counter allegations now must be thoroughly investigated and verified and we would reconcile it and know exactly what we do.”

Meanwhile, the suspended National Treasurer has dragged Abure and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to court, urging the court to compel the anti-graft agency to investigate the national chairman.

She also urged the court to quash her six-month suspension by the party because she was not given a fair hearing before she was suspended.

To make matters worse for Abure, the former acting national chairman of the party, Maria Labaka also accused Abure of forging her signature when she acted as national chairman after the substantive national chairman Abdulkadir Abdulsalam died in December 2020.

She also denied signing any cheque between February 7, 2022, and March 18, 2022, the period when Abure was alleged to have withdrawn Ñ14 million from the account of the party.

Labaka said: “I did not sign the two cheques between February 7 and March 18, which used to collect N14 million, I only signed the cheques for the March 29 meeting in Benin for the NWC members and states chairmen of the party. Abure forged my signature for the change of signatures as national chairman.”

Labaka also claimed that while on a fundraising tour in the United States of America in August 2023, Abure raised thousands of dollars from Nigerians in the diaspora sympathetic to Obi and Ahmed Datti. To date, Abure has refused to hand over or account a single dollar to her as national treasurer or broader NWC.

She claimed that Abure unilaterally prepared a hoax Audit Report for the period June 2022 to May 2023, and tried to get her and the NWC to endorse it but she rejected the report, being fully aware of its falsehood.

But Abure said: “All the money withdrawn between January 2021and March 2021 were withdrawn and co-signed with the acting national chairman of the party, Lebaka. I was the national secretary at the time and there was no way I could have withdrawn from the account or any person could have withdrawn money without a signatory.”

While the issue in court is awaiting adjudication, two governorship candidates and a House of Representatives candidate of the party in the 2023 general election have called for Abure’s prosecution having allegedly established forgery allegations against him.

The aggrieved candidates, Eze Oko Splendour (Ebonyi State), Yohana Yilpwan Margif (Plateau State) and the House of Representatives Candidate for Edo Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal constituency Imasuen Paul Murphy, said they had established forgery allegations through Police investigation for which Abure was detained.

Each of the candidates at a joint press conference in Abuja narrated their ordeals, stating how they were fraudulently substituted with their forged signatures, documents, and withdrawal letters submitted to INEC.

They highlighted other illegal acts of Abure including their unlawful substitution of LP candidates submitted to INEC, fake & forged affidavits of FCT High Court receipts, seals and oaths.
They also accused Abure of collecting N30m as a bribe from each of their alleged substitutes.

The crisis got to the head in February this year when Abure was arrested by security operatives in Edo State, a few days before the party’s primary election in the state following a petition forwarded to Zone 5, Benin from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in Abuja.

He has since been granted bail, but Abure has described his travails as an attempt by some people to “destabilise the party, disorganise it, and take over the leadership to destroy the very foundation of the party, so that there won’t be credible opposition in the country.”

For Tanko, “As far as we are concerned, the LP under the leadership of Abure has subjected himself to public scrutiny. The future of the party is very bright because no party has been so open to any form of internal or external investigation like the LP has experienced in recent times. It can only make the party stronger. Many Nigerians are still looking up to LP as the vehicle that can take Nigeria to the Promised Land.

“No one single person is bigger than the party. I can assure you that the NWC is on top of every matter because a lot of committees have been set up for reconciliation and investigation as the case may apply.”

The Senator representing Edo South in the 10th National Assembly on the platform of the LP, Neda Bernard Imasuen said, “What has happened and is happening to individuals in the party with the national chairman at the centre of the storm, on a larger note, the activities of the party is going on.

“As you are aware we already have a candidate flying the flag of the party for the September governorship election in Edo State that is our focus right now.

“For all the accusations and counteraccusations, they are subject to investigation. We must wait for the investigation, as we cannot begin to vilify or to prosecute anyone now until at least there is an investigation into the matter as our national leader Peter Obi has also posited, this is my position on the matter.

“Like I said, on a broader term, we don’t need any distractions now, yes they are weighty allegations, but for the credibility of the party, investigations have to take place.”