News
N3.5bn Accusation: Obi says Labour Party Will Hire Independent Auditor For Accounts
…N744.5m spent on litigation after 2023 general elections
By Gloria Ikibah
Amid the fresh crisis rocking the Labour Party over the sale of forms and fundraising activities for the 2023 General Elections, the Presidential Candidate of the party, H.E Peter Obi has said that an independent audit firm will audit the accounts of the party.
Obi stated this in Abuja on Thursday at a press briefing organised by the Obi/Baba-Ahmed Campaign Group to present the report of its fundraising during the 2023 General elections.
He stated that the allegations and counter allegations in the party must be thoroughly investigated and reconciled
He stated: ‘There has been all sorts of comments and allegations, like one of the people said about $150 million, let me categorically state it that all the funds received directly or indirectly from the diaspora is not up to 1 percent of the money mentioned, and this, some of it is changed and given to Aisha.
“We were actually going to go to the various people who supported us in diaspora to say thank you and tell them what was realised. And we are also going to put an information out there that whoever knows where funds were supposed to have been remitted to help us trace and get back. But know that people are claiming we receive 150 million dollars and I state here, we haven’t seen 1 percent and I stand here to dispute and prove that.
Responding to questions on the many allegations at the party level, the National Chairman of LP, Julius Abure been called by the party’s National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara, to account for N3 5bn raised from sale of forms and fundraising activities before and during the General elections. Obi said the party will give a transparent account of funds realised during the campaign process.
“What we are doing today is distinct and completely separate from the party and the party fund. We are just dealing with Obi-Datti campaign funds and I ahve told everybody if what ever we received directly, indirectly will be accounted for transparently. For the party, I am a member of the party and they have chosen to say I am the leader.
“What we need to do in the party and I discussed it with the leadership, is that we must now appoint a reputable audit firm to audit and be able to deal with the accounting of the party. When I am involve in anywhere money is, it must be transparent.
“So there is the allegation and counter allegation now that must be thoroughly investigated and verified,and we will reconcile it and know exactly what we are doing. Within here is accounting for the campaign and I am using the opportunity also to appeal to the various support groups or individuals and parties that received some form of funding to support what we are doing, which we are very grateful to account to those they received it from. Because there are some people who supported some supported groups, there some people even abroad who collected money and said they are going to use it to work in the North and everything. We were not stringent that anything you collect must come to us but we want whatever is collected to be accounted for. That’s why we appeal to the public, if you think this happened here and everything,let us know”, Obi stated.
Briefing newsmen on the aftermath of the 2023 elections after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the then All Progressives Congress (INEC) candidate Bola Tinubu as the winner of the election.
Chairman of the Fundraising Team of the Campaign Organisation, Aisha Yesufu, said that the LP went to court as lawyers were hired to pursue legal cases from the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal (PEPT) all through the Supreme Court.
She disclosed that the campaign Organisation spent over N744,500,000 in litigation in courts over the 2023 presidential election.
The Chairman of the Fundraising Team of the Campaign Organisation, Aisha Yesufu, who disclosed this, also stated that the LP received donations totalling N595,976,994.00 from Nigerians.
“Accountability and transparency are very critical and important; that is why we asked people to donate so that we could come back to them to explain how their money was judiciously used.
“We thank everyone who donated in cash and kindness. From the donations from citizens, we received N595,976,994. This is the money we raised from the four accounts that we have talked about. We also received N8,000,00.00 from the candidate himself (Peter Obi),” she said.
The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, has taken delivery of five new helicopters as the Federal Government steps up efforts to modernise the country’s airpower capabilities and strengthen military operations against security threats.
The platforms comprise three AW-109 Trekker B helicopters manufactured by Leonardo Helicopters of Italy and two H-125 helicopters manufactured by Airbus Helicopters.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigerian Air Force Headquarters, the NAF said the three AW-109s, which are part of 10 recently acquired by the Federal Government, were received in Lagos on September 15, 2026, while the remaining seven are expected to be delivered before the end of the year. The two H-125 helicopters had been delivered earlier.
The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, said the new helicopters would increase aircraft availability and improve the NAF’s ability to support ongoing military operations.
“The arrival of these five helicopters provides greater flexibility in the employment of airpower in support of ground troops in ongoing operations,” Aneke said.
He said the AW-109 Trekker B helicopters would enhance the NAF’s capabilities in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, close air support, armed escort, combat search and rescue, and other joint operations.
Aneke added that the H-125 helicopters would provide light helicopter support for various operational requirements.
The new platforms are undergoing post-delivery assembly and technical and crew-readiness processes ahead of their induction and operationalisation.
Aneke said the increased rotary-wing capacity would strengthen support for joint forces conducting operations against terrorism, kidnapping and banditry.
He said the NAF would also prioritise maintenance and logistics support to ensure the new aircraft remain available for operations.
The Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, has endorsed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s bid for a second term in office, declaring that there will be “no vacancy” in the Presidential Villa, Abuja for the next four or five years.
Oba Akiolu gave the support when the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdulaziz Yari, led members of the council on a courtesy visit to his palace in Lagos on Monday.
The monarch urged politicians to approach the 2027 General Elections with responsibility and ensure that the electoral process is peaceful and serves the interests of Nigerians.
Oba Akiolu cautioned members of the campaign council against actions capable of undermining the peace and stability of the country, even as he urged them to uphold honesty and shun the Machiavellian principle that the end justifies the means.
Speaking, the Director-General of the Campaign Council, Yari, said the delegation was in Lagos to seek the monarch’s blessings, prayers and counsel as the council begins its nationwide campaign activities ahead of the 2027 polls.
Yari said the APC believed President Tinubu deserved a second term to consolidate his administration’s efforts in the areas of the economy, security and infrastructure.
The Campaign D-G, while acknowledging the economic difficulties facing Nigerians, appealed for continued support for the president, saying APC leaders from the North would work to secure strong backing for Tinubu’s re-election across the region.
Receiving the delegation, Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, described the visit as significant, noting that the council had made the Oba’s palace one of its early stops following its engagement with the Sokoto Caliphate.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said the visit underscored Lagos’ strategic importance to Nigeria’s political process, describing the state as the country’s commercial and economic nerve centre as well as a major political hub.
The visit was attended by Lagos APC leaders, local government chairmen, members of the National Assembly, state lawmakers and other party stakeholders.
Former Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Alhaji Mohammed Mani, has been endorsed as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in Niger state
Alhaji Mani replaces Abubakar Sulaiman, who was elected at the PDP primary last May.
Sulaiman voluntarily withdrawn from the position in the interest of the peace unity and progress of the party.
The endorsement of the former FIRS boss for the governorship contest was made by PDP stakeholders from across the state at the state party secretariat.
Addressing the stakeholders, Alhaji Mani promised to deliver the state to the PDP in next year’s election and solicited the support of party faithful for the realisation of the objective.
The new PDP candidate had earlier contested for the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress(APC) which Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago got by “ consensus.”
He was among the APC aspirants who lost in the primary election and recently defected to the PDP.
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