By Ihechi Enyinnaya
The Obi-Datti fundraising team has disputed claims made by Labour Party National Chairman Julius Abure, who alleged that Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo were solely responsible for managing the campaign funds of LP presidential candidate Peter Obi during the 2023 election.
Abure, speaking to journalists in Abuja following a National Executive Council meeting, denied any wrongdoing, asserting that he had no access to or involvement in the management of campaign funds. He claimed that the funds were managed by Peter Obi himself and that neither he nor the party handled these financial resources.
“The party and I have been accused of being responsible for Peter Obi’s failure in the 2023 election. Allegations suggest that campaign donations and funds for polling agents were mismanaged, leading to Obi’s defeat,” Abure stated. He added that Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo were the signatories to the campaign accounts and responsible for handling donations and payments.
In response, Aisha Yesufu, featured in a viral video on her official YouTube channel, labeled Abure’s statements as false. Yesufu challenged Abure to explain the use of funds from the ‘Labour Party N1,000 Challenge’ campaign, which began in 2022.
“That statement from Abure is a blatant lie,” Yesufu asserted. “He seems to think he can deceive people like in the past when records were less accessible. I have detailed records of the campaign’s finances and procedures. The Labour Party had its own account, separate from the one we used for campaign activities. We had no access to the funds in the LP account.”
Yesufu also refuted Abure’s claim that only two individuals managed the funds, stating there were three signatories and questioning the accountability for the public donations and form procurement expenses.
The controversy follows Yesufu’s earlier announcement that the fundraising team collected N596 million from supporters and that Obi spent N744.5 million on legal battles after his 2023 election loss.