The crisis within Labour Party may not be abating soon following damning allegations from former Acting National Chairman Maria Labeke accusing National Chairman Julius Abure of forging her signature to impose himself as party leader.
In an exclusive interview obtained by VeoNewsNg, Labeke, who was previously acting chairman before being removed under disputed circumstances, painted a shocking picture of alleged forgery, harassment, and fraud by Abure.
She described herself as “the first major victim of forgery by Abure.” He allegedly faked her sign-off to make himself an authorized signatory on party financial accounts after forcibly removing her as acting chair.
“He forged that signature which I’m sure of. The bank called me to authorize removing my signature as a signatory to the account but I refused. The next thing he forged my signature to INEC saying I had resigned, which was totally false,” Labeke revealed.
Labeke recalled how she was removed in March, 2021, describing it as a dramatic chaotic meeting where she was shouted down, insulted and physically intimidated by Abure supporters before being ousted unlawfully. Under duress, she said she was pressured to sign documents she hadn’t read.
“They surrounded me, pushing and shouting ‘sign this, sign that.’ I was signing everything in fear,” she claimed.
She also alleged that Abure often, ‘bragged about his influence with the Independent National Electoral Commission’ and sometimes bribed her lawyers subsequently stunting the progress of her lawsuit against Abure.
Labeke, previously Deputy National Chairman alongside Lamidi Apapa during the tenure of Abdulkadir Abdulsalam who died in December in 2020.
Alleged 3.5bn Laundering: Oluchi Oparah Vs Julius Abure
The serious allegations come as suspended National Treasurer Oluchi Opara demanded Abure account for an alleged N3.5 billion raised through nomination forms and fundraising that is unaccounted for.
Oparah also accused Abure’s leadership of colluding with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party government in Edo state.
Oparah said, “As national treasurer, I am constrained to come before you and the public today because the internal mechanisms of our party have failed woefully to bring Mr Abure to account for his brazen abuse of office and misappropriation of party funds.
“His appetite for power has grown unchecked, and he has deliberately undermined my duties and authority as stipulated in the party’s constitution.
“Since assuming office in 2021, Mr Abure has engaged in a series of actions that not only undermine the principles upon which the Labour Party was founded but also constitute grave violations of trust and fiduciary responsibility.
Reacting, Abure flatly denied all allegations of forgery and threatened to sue Oparah.
He said the party never made 3.5 billion naira and challenged her to make the records available where she arrived at the sum of N3.5 billion as money generated during the elections.
“The total money that entered the party’s account between 2022 and now is N1.3billion. We also got N700 million which were campaign funds that went straight to the campaign organisation for the campaigns. I don’t know where she got the N3.5 billion that she talked about,” Abure said.
Although Abure is yet to address Labeke’s allegations, he accused Oparah of being manipulated by those whose “aim is to destabilize the party, disorganize it, take over the leadership of the party and destroy the very foundation of the party so that there won’t be credible opposition in the country.”
