Okpara is the National Treasurer of Labour Party

A Text OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE NATIONAL WORKING COMMITTEE OF THE LABOUR PARTY HELD AT THE NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS OF THE PARTY ON THE 14 OF FEBRUARY 2024 ON THE ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE OF OFFICE LEVELED AGAINST THE LEADERSHIP OF THE PARTY BY THE NATIONAL TREASURER, MS OLUCHI OKPARA.

Gentlemen of the Press, welcome to this Press Conference by the National Leadership of the Labour Party. Let me first express our immense gratitude to you my colleagues, gentlemen of the Press for always representing us well in the media and for being a partner in this task of repositioning Nigeria.

After the 2023 general election, the Labour Party was marked for total annihilation by the system for daring to upstage the status quo of the political class and up till today, the battle over the soul of the LP has continued to intensify. However, with God being on our side, we have refused to be strangulated in spite of all the subterfuge deployed by the perpetrators and their agents.

It is no longer news that a few months ago, five members of the National Working Committee of the party chose to be agents of disintegration and the whole nation stood by us as we flushed them out. Smarting from that euphoria, little did we know that the fumigation was far from complete until late last year when signs emanate that our National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara, a key member of the executive turned to be a mole in the house and has continued networking with the expelled members of the party leadership.

It may surprise you to know that the text of the Press conference by Ms Opara was actually written for her since November 2023 by the camp of the dissident former members, a copy she tendered in one of our December NWC meeting. The leadership of the party made series of efforts to dissuade her from not pulling down the roof of the home she has lived in for 10 years as the longest serving Treasurer in history of political party in Nigeria.

Before I address her trumped up allegations, point by point, it would be important to let the world know that when someone is compromised, albeit pecuniary, and when you can’t match the stake, nothing on earth can stop the inevitable. Because the party was smarting out from a crisis and afraid of further crisis, it pleaded with the Ms Opara to toe the path of honour not to conflagrate the party and even made her some promises. But her insistence of a brand new car, a duplex in the highbrow area in Abuja and a huge sum as her price eventually truncated whatever pacification efforts.

Now, to some of her ridiculous allegations bordering on abuse of office and misappropriation of party fund, Julius Abure took over the rein of the party in 2021 after the death of the former Chairman, Alhaji A. Abdulsalam in December of 2020. A former Deputy National Chairman, Mrs Maria Lebeke emerged as the acting National Chairman with of course Abure as the National Secretary. Ms Opara alleged that Abure forged signature of the late chairman two months after his death to withdraw huge sums of money but her memory was so short to remember that Abure only emerged as the Chairman about four months after the demise of the former Chairman. She also forgot in a hurry that she and the late chairman exclusively operated the accounts of the party.

When Abure assumed office, it dawned on him as the Chief Accounting Officer of the party to build a proper accounting method which never existed throughout the eight years (as at 2022) of Ms Opara’s service as the Treasurer of the party. Real reason she was made a Treasurer is a discussion for another day but we dare her to present a single document of the party’s financial records from 2014 to 2021. The problem this NWC has with her was the insistence that a proper financial record be kept. The party has grown from portfolio party to a dinosaur party it has become in the last one year and there arose a need to do the proper thing.

She also alleged that the party amassed a whooping N3.5 billion naira from sale of forms from the 2023 election. We wished that was true but the truth is that the party realised only N1.2 billion only from not just sale of forms but also from other sources including membership cards, donations amongst others. The party through the campaign bodies and support groups realized another N800.000.000, a fund solely managed by the Campaign Organisation, not the party.

The party accounts have been properly audited up till June 2023 and have since been submitted and received by INEC. It may surprise you to know that not many political parties have submitted their 2022 audited accounts. The allegation that audited account was doctored is a matter of libel which we have taken note. She will be made to give further clarification as how banks transactions are falsified as auditors only work with evidences of transactions emanating from statements from the banks.

The NWC as one its mandate to resolve any crisis in the party through its internal mechanisms procedure, met on Friday (09-02-2024) last week and raised a five man investigation committee to take a critical look at the allegations that emanated from the National Treasurer with the mandate to within one month resolve the impasse and make recommendation to the committee of the whole. The National Treasurer and indeed all members of the NWC were present at the meeting and endorsed the committee. It was indeed a rude shock that in total disregard to the NWC position and trouble shooting efforts, that the National Treasurer, three days after reneged on the understanding that all attacks and diatribes cease for peace to rein.

The National Treasurer on Monday 12th of February, also disregarded a constituted authority of the party by addressing a world press conference where she disparaged the person of our national chairman and also brought the party to opprobrium. Not satisfied with the public humiliation, the National Treasurer on the following day appeared in ARISE television programme to further disrepute the party and misinformed millions of viewing public on the internal affairs of the party against the rules and regulations of the party.

Convinced that the National Treasurer is on a mission to stifle life out of our very cherished party, an emergency NWC was summoned yesterday being February 13. Arising from the meeting, the NWC set up a disciplinary committee to try the National Treasurer, Ms Oluchi Opara for bringing the party to disrepute.

At the meeting held Tuesday evening February 13, 2024 in Abuja, in exercise of its powers as contained in the Party’s Constitution with the intention of a fair hearing, the NWC extended an invitation to the National Treasurer to appear before it on Wednesday (Today) February 14, 2024 by 10am (12 hours) to discuss the recent development. The party regrets that the National Treasurer shunned the invitation by the disciplinary committee, to clear herself and her actions.

We see this as an affront to the party leadership and millions of our members who are watching on how their party’s image which they have laboured hard to build is trolled by one ingrate. The disciplinary committee has however recommended to the National Executive Council of the party through the National Working Committee that Ms Oluchi Opara be suspended from the Labour Party for a minimum of 6 months. This suspension is with immediate effect.

We sincerely regret this development. We however urge our teaming members to understand that this is a price to pay for success. We will continue to reform the party until we achieve the best, good enough to drive our New Nigeria agenda.

SIGN

Obiora Ifoh
National Publicity Secretary
Labour Party

14-02-2024

Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/8000052/labour-party-set-up-disciplinary

There are so many skeletons in this Abure's closet. He also isn't who the Obidients believe him to be....

Extremely crooked and dishonest lanky bastard employed by Obaseki.

I'm watching him, watching his sly moves.



He's going to be revealed shortly.

For the records; I will always be Obidient, but I don't just dig Julius Abure.

If not for Obi who sabi Labour party

To the average obidient, you cannot have your own opinion. If you don't agree with the bandwagon 10/10 then you must be a mole

thesicilian:
To the average obidient, you cannot have your own opinion. If you don't agree with the bandwagon 10/10 then you must be a mole

You found your voice on LP and Obidient thread, but you will disappear into thin air when your party APC and the disaster called Tinubu makes headlines for anti-people policies and for many wrong reasons.

This is Rubbish

Let Reputable External Auditors first Audit the Accounts if nothing is being hidden

Let the Audit findings be made public

You cannot suspend her till the External Auditors Submit their report

fergie001:
Okpara is the National Treasurer of Labour Party



Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/8000052/labour-party-set-up-disciplinary

APC should get ready to hand over to LP, if they like let them go bribes Peter obi we will still vote for him.

How can Nigeria allow those criminals in apc to occupy office of Presidency I don't know if they use juju .

Another 8 years of apc Nigeria will be more wost than Zimbabwe even when is the same with Venezuela now.

See the evil party of the online mobs 🤣😀😂



Only failure support failure

Ogiame:
You found your voice on LP and Obidient thread, but you will disappear into thin air when your party APC and the disaster called Tinubu makes headlines for anti-people policies and for many wrong reasons.

I am equally disappointed by all 3, APC, PDP, and LP. It's just that the intolerance and gross lack of logical reasoning capacity of the obidients irritates me more.

Without being told, sensible Nigerians knew that she was a mole. Labour Party should sue her for Libel so she will present the evidence she doesn't have, whether she likes it or not.

fergie001:
Okpara is the National Treasurer of Labour Party



Previous Thread:
https://www.nairaland.com/8000052/labour-party-set-up-disciplinary

Moderator please stop posting LP [labor pool]wahalla into this forum they are noise makers.

Na everytime moles dey come after Abure. He was the same person accused of forging documents, accused of funding terrorism, and accused of misappropriating funds.

Lol... The incompetent and manipulative Irupete Obi won't say anything or write his useless thread to address the issue so as to maintain brand.

I laugh! This is the storm that will consume LP. That Hushmummy Hijabi Aisha too na fraud. Her yansh go expose too. That all swallowed campaign fund like the infamous snake in Buhari's administration.

Some naive obedients are suggesting they carry their Ekute out of LP and form their own party. Walahi, you no go see 5th carry next election cycle.

APC and Tinubu know you guys are feather weight - the reason they don't respond to the threads of your messiah. PDP is the only opposition. You no see say na only PDP Tinubu's administration dey always respond to. You no see PDP govs and Tinubu/APC dribbling and close marking of recent Something their Ekute can only dream of. Tinubu wicked sha; him just dey make that one write useless threads into voids. Him no even give am attention.

Jnas:
If not for Obi who sabi Labour party

If not for Tinubu’s mastery of political strategy, what foolishness would make capitalist Peter Obi join communist LP labourers in his desperate bid to be president

jameshankss:
Anambra State Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo, has said he is sure the candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, would lose the 2023 presidential election. Soludo said he would not submit to the bullying of Obi’s supporters, who recently descended on him for addressing issues in the state.

The governor made the comments in a lengthy write-up personally authored, with the title, “History Beckons, and I Will Not Be Silent (Part 1).”

Soludo said Obi was inadvertently making the pathway to victory much easier for the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, and at the same time, toying with the destiny of millions of Ndigbo.

But the chief spokesperson for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign, Yunusa Tanko, accused Soludo of being sponsored by some unknown persons to weaken the base of the party in the South-east.

The former CBN governor had been under intense attack for close to a week for dismissing Obi’s investment in the state as amounting to nothing, during a television interview.

Soludo said in the write-up, “My attention has been drawn to some of the tirades on social media following my frank response during an interview on Channels TV regarding the ‘investments’ Mr. Peter Obi claimed to have made with Anambra State revenues.

“Sadly, several of the comments left the issue of the interview to probe or suggest motives, inferred from my response on ‘investment’ that I am opposed to Peter Obi’s ambition and, therefore, committed a ‘crime’ for which the punishment is internecine abuse and harassment, even to my family.

“Everyone knows that I don’t follow the winds or one to succumb to bullies, or shy away from a good fight especially, when weighty matters of principles and future of the people are involved.”

Soludo said he had urged Obi to return to his former party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), to actualise his presidential bid. He added that he had always told the LP candidate to his face that he was not capable of winning the 2023 presidential election, especially, under LP, which had neither a councillor nor a local government chairman.

Soludo said Obi was not just his friend, but also his brother, but despite that, they have their political differences.

He stated, “For full disclosure, let me state that Peter Obi and I are not just friends, we call ourselves ‘brothers’. But we have political differences: he left APGA for PDP after his tenure as governor, while I have remained in APGA since 2013.

“During the last two governorship elections in Anambra in 2017 and 2021, he led the PDP campaigns but APGA won landslide in both elections. By the way, in 2016, he visited and proposed that I defect to PDP and contest the 2017 election against the incumbent Willie Obiano, but I declined.

“After my victory in November 2021, he called to congratulate me, as I did to him in 2010. That is the Anambra way: we fight fiercely during campaigns but share drinks at the next social events. After all, it was the Great Zik of Africa, who taught us that in politics, there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies but only permanent interests.”

Arguing that Obi’s presidential bid would only work in favour of Tinubu, Soludo said, “Indeed, if I were Asiwaju Tinubu, I would even give Peter Obi money as someone heading one of the departments of his campaign, because Obi is making Tinubu’s pathway to victory much easier by indirectly pulling down PDP.”

Obi, according to Soludo, would only deplete the votes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and pave the path for an APC victory.

He stated, “The current fleeting frenzy, if not checked, will cost Ndigbo dearly for years. The South-east has the lowest number of votes of any region, but it is also the only region where the presidential race might be a four-way race (it is a two-way race in the other five regions) thereby, ensuring that our votes won’t count in the making of the next president of Nigeria.

https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2022/11/15/soludo-i-wont-succumb-to-bullies-obi-knows-he-cant-win/

Ok

thesicilian:

I am equally disappointed by all 3, APC, PDP, and LP. It's just that the intolerance and gross lack of logical reasoning capacity of the obidients irritates me more.

Be deceiving yourself. Obidients irritates you more and the incompetent fool calling himself the president and his useless party does what to you?

My own is that everybody should Repent and stop taking advantage of other people from those in APC to those in PDP and LP including floor members like us.

Abure my guy.

Just declare anyone questioning your stealing as a mole and let obedient mob twerk for you and defend you.

Elupeee executive have mastered the art of gbajue like say na them invent am.

thesicilian:

I am equally disappointed by all 3, APC, PDP, and LP. It's just that the intolerance and gross lack of logical reasoning capacity of the obidients irritates me more.

What percentage of your time, energy, effort, money and other resources are you using to make a 4th ideology/party viable

Otherwise what is the purpose of this your balablu town hall noise?

LP is just like APC and PDP.

FIrst, their lawmakers did not refuse the car largesse, instead they all accepted, second, their governors proved to have large spending appetites, and now this.

The hard truth is, Nigerian politicans are all alike. And even when there is a revolution to overthrow them, the new people that take over will continue the looting. Break up the country, the same thing.

I think that NIgerians need to stop defending their corrupt leaders.

LP Has a corruption problem. Denying it is basically denying Nigerians the chance for real genuine change.


Modified

I said earlier I think that NIgerians should stop defending their corrupt leaders.

One thing I realized earlier , and for over ten years now, is that Nigerians, when their leader is called out for corruption promptly label the person calling out the corruption an enemy of the state.

LIke now, if I say that GEJ, Buhari, Tinubu, Obasanjo or any of our army leaders are corrupt, their partisans would attack me as a enemy of the country, their tribe, their party, etc. Meanwhile so long as it is not their side being accused, they can call them corrupt. A tinubu fan would talk about PDP corruption but be quiet about 1bn being spent on office work for example.

The reason why corruption is always with us , since i was a child, and even before i was a child...is simple. We don't think it is wrong so long as it benefits our side. Or we deny it if it is our side. That is why I don't believe anything would change really.

As seen in this LP thing. Because it is LP, it must be an APC Plot to destabilse the party. So we all keep quiet, and the corruption parasite continues its job.

Yah, who cares, anyway.

APC is trying everything to destabilise LP because they know LP is a very big threat

Trust politicians at your peril.




They are all forged from the same material. #spits

Case of corruption fighting back.
Oga leave who Okpara is fighting for and tell us wetin you take oarty money do.

YourKarma:
APC is trying everything to destabilise LP because they know LP is a very big threat

No, LP is having issues with corruption. And the leadership is in denial.

A sane leadership would have called for an independent investigation. But LP is behaving like APC, and PDP when they had the same problem. Deny, deny, deny, and then label all dissenters moles.

Zulu11zulu:
APC should get ready to hand over to LP, if they like let them go bribes Peter obi we will still vote for him.

How can Nigeria allow those criminals in apc to occupy office of Presidency I don't know if they use juju .

Another 8 years of apc Nigeria will be more wost than Zimbabwe even when is the same with Venezuela now.

Wetin obi know?
If Abure is not of guilty of the allegation, let him prove it and not fighting back by suspending the treasurer

Lol... Dem say make oga drop account of how e spent campaign funds baba say d accuser na mole...
Baba abure u Don chop campaign funds alone arbi.... U think say u wise?

Zulu11zulu:
APC should get ready to hand over to LP, if they like let them go bribes Peter obi we will still vote for him.

How can Nigeria allow those criminals in apc to occupy office of Presidency I don't know if they use juju .

Another 8 years of apc Nigeria will be more wost than Zimbabwe even when is the same with Venezuela now.

who is this no nonentity that is wailing

Ok naa.

So, this is the beat they can come up with??

Ok naa.
The allegations are still there unanswered to.
And it is Only Abure that can respond properly to those allegations.

Criminals forming saints
Only 1℅ out of the population in Nigeria is average