Controversial human right activist, Aisha Yesufu, has denied allegation levelled against her by the National Chairman of the Labour Party, Julius Abure, over alleged mismanagement of the party’s campaign funds.
Recall that Abure on Monday, called out Aisha and Pastor Itua Ighodalo, to give account for the funds generated for the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, during the 2023 election.
The party’s chairman, while speaking with journalists in Abuja after the National Executive Council’s meeting, said that there was no iota of truth in the allegation that he embezzled the party’s campaign donations.
Abure emphasised that there was no way he could have accessed any fund since he was not involved directly in the management of the presidential flag candidate.
He said: “The election funding was done by Obi himself. As per the donations, the party was not involved.
“The signatories to these accounts were Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua Ighodalo. They were equally responsible for the payment of Polling Unit Agents.”
Reacting to Abure’s claims in a viral video posted on her official YouTube account on Tuesday, Yesufu, who doubled as the chairman of the campaign fundraising team, described Abure as a liar.
She challenged the national chairman to tell Nigerians what he did with the proceeds of the ‘Labour Party N1,000 Challenge’ campaign donations he has been raising since 2022.
Yesufu said: “That statement Abure made was a big fat lie. He thinks it was like those days when they used to do their Labour unionism when nobody had internet or keep records; those days they got away with everything.
“There were times when the fundraising team was frustrated with me because of my insistence on due process. Before Mr Obi came out with his campaign account, the Labour Party had theirs.
READ MORE: Aisha Yesufu, Ighodalo Should Be Accountable, For Obi’s Campaign Funds, Not LP — Abure
“I have with me here a ‘Labour Party N1,000 Challenge’ post that was tweeted on 24/11/22. It said ‘Take ownership of the LP campaign by donating a minimum of N1,000 to Labour Party Zenith Account 1225832294.
“When that account was opened by Abure, I was very angry. I remember some people harmlessly saying it was no big deal since it was for the same Labour Party campaign.
“But I insisted that it is not the same thing because we don’t have access to any money that went into the LP account and therefore can’t use it to facilitate the electioneering campaign.
“So for Julius Abure to come out in 2024 to blatantly lie that they were not involved in any campaign, saying it was only Aisha Yesufu and Pastor Itua (is unbelievable).
“By the way, there are three signatories, not two as he said. Up till now, the LP has not accounted for the money the public donated to them neither have they accounted for the money used to procure forms.”
