The Chairman of the Labour Party, Abure, Arrested In Edo.
The National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure, was arrested by policemen in Benin City, the Edo State capital. The arrest occurred on Wednesday afternoon, but details of the arrest are not yet known.
A spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force Zone 5, Tijani Momoh, confirmed the development. Viral videos showed Abure being manhandled by policemen, while LP supporters tried to prevent his arrest.
LP national spokesman Obiora Ifoh confirmed the arrest in a statement, saying that the Edo State Chairman of the party, Kelly Ogbaloi, was also manhandled.
Ifoh alleged that the arrest of the party’s officials was in connection to a protest letter by one of the expelled members of the party loyal to Lamidi Apapa camp.
He further alleged that the arrest was to frustrate the primary process and possibly interrupt the party’s participation in the governorship election.
The party’s national chairman has been embroiled in a crisis with the party’s suspended National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara, who accused Abure of financial malfeasance, forgery and embezzlement of the party’s funds realised during the 2023 presidential election.
Abure and the party denied the allegations, even as Opara insisted that the national chairman should account for both naira and dollar donations to the party in the last poll.
LP presidential candidate in the last poll, Peter Obi, had said external auditors would probe the party’s financial books.
Last week, the Labour Party suspended Opara for six months, saying that the party only realised N1.2 billion from donations from members and sales of forms to some aspirants in the 2023 polls.
The party alleged that Opara was being sponsored by the same people who used Lamidi Apapa, Anslem Eragbe, and Yomi Arabambi to derail the party.
