The former National Treasurer of the Labour Party LP), Oluchi Oparah, dismissed allegations that former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, misused party funds during his 2023 presidential campaign.

Oparah stated that Peter Obi personally funded his campaign activities and also made financial contributions to the party.

She stated that Obi not only financed his own campaign activities but also played a key role in stabilising the party’s finances upon joining.

“There was nothing of such. Mr. Obi never spent any money meant for the party,” Oparah said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief, when asked to react to the allegation by a chieftain of the LP, Abayomi Arabambi, that Obi spent party funds on his campaign.

“In fact, he lifted the party from zero level to where it is today,” she added.

She disclosed that before Obi joined the Labour Party, it was deeply in debt and struggled to pay its staff salaries.

She noted that Obi fulfilled all the financial obligations expected of him and went further to donate to the party from his personal resources.

“Mr. Obi fulfilled every righteousness financially towards the Labour Party. There was never a time he asked for a dime from the party, unlike other political parties will do,” she stated.

She also explained the campaign financing structure, stating that each candidate was permitted to operate a separate campaign account, independent of the party’s official accounts.

She explained that the Labour Party also maintained its financial accounts for party activities.

“He spent a lot of money on the Labour Party. We have programmes that Mr. Obi solely financed by himself. Obi spent from his money because the Labour Party did not have a dime,” Oparah said during the interview.

She also condemned what she termed the lack of accountability in the current APC-led administration and called on Nigerians to concentrate on holding the ruling party accountable instead of targeting Peter Obi.

She also challenged those accusing Obi of financial misconduct to come forward with proof of the payments they claim to have made to the Labour Party.

“As far as I am concerned, Mr. Obi was the only person who showed interest in contesting on the platform of the Labour Party.

“So, anyone claiming whatsoever should come out to show us the particular account to which they paid whatever thing they say they paid to the Labour Party,” she maintained.

Oparah praised Obi’s charitable nature, describing his charitable activities as a consistent trait long before his time as a presidential candidate, adding, “Anyone that knows Mr. Obi very well knows that his act of charity is five and six, like the air he breathes.”

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The Osun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed confidence in Governor Ademola Adeleke’s chances of securing re-election in 2026, declaring that the contest would be a “walk in the park” regardless of the opposition’s candidate.

In a statement issued by the party’s Director of Media, Oladele Bamiji, the PDP ridiculed the growing list of governorship aspirants within the All Progressives Congress (APC) describing the trend as both “amusing” and “a parade of political irrelevance.

“Osun is not a rehabilitation centre for serial election losers and self-serving political actors,” Bamiji stated.

He challenged the APC aspirants to explain their sudden interest in returning to power, asking, “What exactly did they leave behind at the Abere government secretariat that now fuels their desperation? Is it the backlog of unpaid salaries, the plight of neglected pensioners, or the crushed hopes of teachers and local government workers under their watch?”

The PDP emphasized that Governor Adeleke’s administration has maintained a people-centric approach, and any APC candidate would find it difficult to convince voters to abandon progress for a troubled past marked by “failure, deceit, and arrogance.

“They must be ready to face pensioners and explain why their pain went unanswered. They owe explanations to local government workers whose funds were slashed under their leadership and are still being withheld by the APC-led federal government today,” Bamiji added.

He dismissed the opposition’s media attacks against Governor Adeleke as hollow and ineffective, stating, “Throwing insults at a performing governor does not equate to popularity or credibility. The people of Osun no longer vote for deceptive noise; they vote for results they can see.”

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kaduna State, Bashir Jamoh, on Thursday disclosed that the party still consults former governor Nasir El-Rufai and he offers his advise without any charge.

Jamoh also said the Kaduna state chapter of APC was yet to part ways with El-Rufai despite his involvement with the opposition coalition-backed African Democratic Congress, APC.

A few months ago, El-Rufai dumped the APC, citing lack of internal democracy under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

The former governor moved to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) before joining the opposition coalition which adopted the ADC.

However, Jamoh who is a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, insisted that El-Rufai is still a card-carrying member of APC.

Addressing journalists in Kaduna, Jamoh said: “We are yet to reach the point where we will say farewell to Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. Forget about the politics.

“When we need his advice, we consult him, and he offers his contributions free of charge.

“You cannot disown your child of eight years. He was governor for eight years under the APC.

“Even when he was in the PDP and later the CPC, which merged into the APC, he contributed to the building of this party.”

End