The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has called for an audit of the party’s accounts amid allegations of corruption against the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure.

Obi said he had met with the party’s National Working Committee and advised on an audit of the party’s accounts to get to the root of the matter.

Addressing reporters in Abuja, Obi recalled attending a meeting of the NWC where the issue was mentioned and he advised that the issue should be looked into.

He said, “I was at the meeting where she (Opara) mentioned it and I have directed them and appealed to them to go and resolve it. But today, it is in the public domain and we owe the public a duty to be transparent. I don’t stay around issues of funds mismanagement or where embezzlement is being discussed. I was governor for eight years and didn’t condone things like this until I left office.

“I am a member of the party. What we need to do for the party, and I have discussed it with them, is that we must appoint a reputable audit firm to deal with the accounting of the party.

9News Nigeria Correspondent, Deji Ogunsola, reports that the suspended National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, challenged Abure to account for an alleged N3.5bn raised from the sale of nomination forms and fundraising activities in the build-up to the 2023 general elections.

Abure, on Thursday, also challenged the suspended National Treasurer of the party, Oluchi Opara, to provide concrete evidence to back her N3.5bn fraud allegation against him.

Abure said, “I have never stopped Oluchi Oparah from carrying out her duties, including receiving money and signing cheques. The electronic payment funds meant for the party are automatically transferred.

“Total summary of the money that entered into the party was N1.3bn. We also got N800m for the campaign. I want to challenge her to make the records available where she got the sum of N3.5bn.”