LP Crisis Deepens: Yesufu, Abure Trade Words Over Obi’s Campaign Funds

Aisha Yesufu, a prominent activist and founder of Citizens Hub, has vehemently denied allegations made by Julius Abure, national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), regarding the management of Peter Obi’s campaign funds.

Recall that Abure had claimed that Yesufu and Itua Ighodalo were responsible for misappropriating funds meant for the 2023 presidential campaign.

However, Yesufu has described Abure’s statement as a “big, fat lie” and provided detailed accounts of the fundraising and disbursement process.

READ ALSO: US Election: Joe Biden Seen Wearing Trump’s MAGA Cap

“The party and I have been accused of being responsible for Peter Obi’s failure in the 2023 general election. They stated that the campaign election donations and funds for the payment of agents were mismanaged by the party hence Peter Obi failed in the election,” Abure said.

Yesufu responded, “That statement Abure made was a big, fat lie. There were times when the fundraising team was frustrated with me because of my insistence on due process. Before Mr. Obi came out with his campaign account, the Labour Party had theirs. I have here a Labour Party N1,000 challenge post that was tweeted on November 24, 2022.”

She continued, “When that account was opened by Abure, I was very angry. I remember some people harmlessly saying it was no big deal since it was for the same Labour Party campaign. But I insisted that it is not the same thing because we don’t have access to any money that went into the LP account and therefore can’t use it to facilitate the electioneering campaign.”

Yesufu also alleged that the LP faction led by Abure gave her “fictitious” names to pay as LP agents during the election, which she claimed was a lie. “The party didn’t want to release the polling agent list. We kept asking for it. On the day of the election, after they finally gave us the party agent list, we started paying the polling agents then something was amiss.”

She added, “Remember people started saying they were not seeing polling party agents in their places. Most of the agents that worked were actually Obidients. So, randomly we were calling the (phone) numbers that we had. You will call someone, maybe the name (on the list) is male but a female will answer and say they don’t know what we are talking about. What polling unit agent?”

Yesufu emphasized that her team has accounted for how money donated for the campaign was expended. “We are ready for anyone who wants to scrutinize the account at any time. Accountability and transparency were the bedrock of which we ran that campaign fundraising.”

The LP is currently embroiled in a leadership crisis, which has polarized the party. The crisis has led to accusations and counter-accusations between Yesufu and Abure, with both sides denying any wrongdoing.