Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has responded to accusations of betrayal levelled against him by Barrister Julius Abure, the pa
Former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has responded to accusations of betrayal levelled against him by Barrister Julius Abure, the party’s national chairman.
Abure made the claims during a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Monday, September 9, where he alleged that both Obi and Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, conspired against him by holding a stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia, Abia State.
In response, Obi, speaking through Comrade Ibrahim Umar, the spokesperson for Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR) expressed his disappointment with Abure’s statements, suggesting that they do not reflect the actual state of affairs within the party. He accused Abure of misleading the public and defaming the character of Obi by calling him a betrayer.
“I am disappointed, but not surprised, by the false accusations of betrayal labelled against our principal Mr. Peter Obi by Julius Abure, the Embattled national chairman of the party. It is clear that this is a politically motivated attempt to mislead the public. The stakeholders meeting of the LP held at Umuahia, on Wednesday, was meant to resolve the lingering leadership crisis and chart a way forward. The decision was not in any way personal.
“Therefore, the Obidient Movement has stood in total solidarity with the actions and decisions of the stakeholders, which have always been guided by a commitment to unity, justice and transparency. Simply because he intervened for Justice?
“His (Abure) tenure ended in June, but he refused to leave the stage and also vowed that he was ready to fight. Who is he fighting? We understand his desperation for power, but it is high time for him to put the interest of the party over his personal interest. We will not engage in name-calling and character assassination. Instead, we call on Julius Abure to accept the outcome of the intervention by Mr Peter Obi and Gov Alex Otti which aimed to resolve any misunderstandings and chart a way forward.”
Similarly, social critic, Aisha Yesufu criticised Abure for allegedly lying about how party funds were misused.
Aisha in an X post said, “He thinks one can lie shamelessly without being fact-checked”.
The statement comes after Abure claimed that Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo were responsible for managing the party’s presidential candidate campaign funds in the 2023 general election.
Abure made the claims amid rumours that he mismanaged the party’s funds, claiming that the party never had access to the accounts opened for donations to support Obi’s candidacy.
He had insisted that Yesufu and Ighodalo were the only signatories to the accounts.
“The party was never involved in the distribution of those resources. Our interest was to see how we could produce a president for the party. How it was done was not our concern. Hence, we gave them free rein. We allowed them to entrust their resources to whomever they wanted. We followed them loyally by allowing them to administer the campaign funds,” Abure said.
