The factional National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, has called out the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and others accusing him of corruption to make public any details of donations to either his person or the party.
Abure made this statement during a stakeholders’ meeting held yesterday at the party’s National Secretariat.
The meeting, convened by Joshua Chinedu Obika, the member representing AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency of the FCT, was attended by members of the Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) and other loyalists.
Speaking at the meeting, Abure expressed his disappointment, noting that despite the sacrifices made by him and other party leaders at the national level, some elected LP officials were scheming to remove the national leadership from office.
He said: “We rejected billions of naira. We rejected offers because of their positions. Today, they are at the forefront of those who want to throw us out of office.”
Abure further challenged the accusers, saying: “I want to challenge all of them. I was watching television, and I saw some of them talking about corruption.
“Today, I want to challenge all of them, from Peter Obi downwards, that contested the election. Let any of them come out and tell the world what they personally gave to me or to the party.
“It is not to go and hide and be saying there is corruption in the party. Who and who are those that brought the money? Who did they give it to? Where did they send it to?
“I challenge them today that any of them that has evidence, even if they don’t have evidence, let them be bold and come out and say when and how they gave the money.
“If they can’t do that, let them forever hold their peace.”
He also hinted at a potential world press conference, saying: “I’m going to call a world press conference and publicly challenge them. As a leader, we have been quiet, thinking they might come back one day.
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“When people were talking about agents and money for agents, I kept quiet because I believe that the bad, the good, and the ugly are for me. Therefore, I should not throw away the bad child or the ugly child.”
Abure added that he had previously withheld information but warned: “I am waiting for them — from top to bottom — to make any other move, and I will open my mouth. And when I open my mouth, wherever they go to, they will be like smelly eggs, rotten eggs that nobody will ever buy.”
It could be recalled that the party has been embroiled in a leadership crisis, with Abure and his loyalists on one side, and the Obi-Otti-backed Senator Nenadi Usman-led LP National Caretaker Committee on the other.
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