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.”