The opposition Labour Party has confirmed that it is considering the call made by their presidential candidate, Peter Obi, requesting a thorough forensic audit of the 2023 presidential campaign funds of the party.
It is important to note that the National Treasurer of LP, Oluchi Opara (who is currently suspended), questioned the National Chairman, Julius Abure, to provide details on the reported N3.5 billion generated from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising events leading up to the 2023 general elections.
Opara accused Abure of not sending donations from Nigerians in the Diaspora during Obi’s campaign in the US.
Abure denied the accusations when he appeared on Arise News.
Because of the controversy, Obi requested an audit of the party’s finances to clarify the situation.
However, a month later, there was no update on the case, despite the recommendations from Obi and other party members.
Labour Party representatives have confirmed that the audit will happen, according to Chief Spokesman Yunusa Tanko and National Publicity Secretary Obiora Ifoh.
Tanko emphasised that the issue has not been ignored or forgotten.
He said, “That particular process is still on. What is needed now is just to make the books (account) available, and we will take it from there. It is an ongoing issue.
“Don’t also forget that INEC itself has conducted its own audit of the accounts of every political party. They always send their internal auditors to audit every account and publish the outcome. Nobody is sweeping anything under the carpet as you alleged.”
On his part, Ifoh said: “We must state clearly that our leader Peter Obi made reference to the audit of the campaign account and not the forensic audit for the Labour Party. In any case, we have stated clearly that the party is open to a forensic audit of its accounts.
“We are even calling on the NLC to send its own external auditors to check our financial books. We are also calling on Peter Obi to expedite action on the auditing of our accounts.”
