Labour Party not broke, only needs support to fund presidential campaign —Chairman

Julius Abure, the chairman of the Labour Party (LP), has denied rumors that the party was bankrupt and unable to finance its political activities.

After the party’s presidential campaign council was inaugurated on Friday, Abure clarified the matter in a statement on Saturday.

According to Abure’s assertion in the statement, Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra State, would not be able to finance the campaigns on his own given the high cost of elections in the nation.

He also noted that Obi was not known for greedy acquisition of public funds when he was serving as governor in his state.

The statement read: “At a well attended inauguration of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja on Friday, I spoke extensively on the importance of campaign funding and the need for collaboration with stakeholders, particularly the candidates of the party at various levels.

“I also emphasised that our presidential candidate alone cannot fund the election as he is known to be someone who did not engage in the gluttonic acquisition of our common patrimony in his days as a public servant.

“However, the news making the round that I said that Labour Party is broke 24 hours to our campaign was reported out of context, hence the need to put the records straight.

“What I said is that presidential election is very expensive and the presidential candidate alone will not be able to shoulder all the expenses and that we will therefore be needing collaboration from all candidates of the party and all well-meaning Nigerians.

“The Nigerian media have been very wonderful and have been playing key role in the efforts by Nigerians to win back our country again. It is therefore commendable how they have partnered with the Labour Party on this task of voting out the fraudulent political circle that have undermined the people and mortgaged their destiny. We sincerely salute your courage.

“Finally, I like to reiterate that Labour Party is not broke. We are not broke. We only need support from stakeholders to be able to embark on the nationwide campaign, to be able to tell Nigerians how we will return Nigeria to its place of pride.”