The Labour Party (LP) has accused its former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of bypassing party structures and showing a lack of financial transparency during the 2023 general elections.
Speaking during an interview on Channels Television, LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arambri, alleged that Obi operated independently, making key campaign decisions and managing funds without involving the party’s leadership.
“Peter Obi did not give the Labour Party or any of its candidates a single kobo after his nomination,” Arambri said.
“He told us ‘we don’t spend shishi,’ yet claimed to have spent ₦800 million on litigation. I challenge him to prove it.”
He added that while Obi had spent ₦32 million on nomination processes upon joining the party, there was no subsequent financial contribution to the party’s broader campaign activities or support for its candidates.
Arambri went further, alleging that Obi and two unnamed associates opened multiple bank accounts to manage campaign funds without informing the party.
“We know the banks and the account numbers. They went ahead and opened four different accounts before informing the party. How do you run a political campaign like that?” he questioned.
He also revealed that the party was only contacted for a letter of introduction after the accounts had already been set up, suggesting deliberate efforts to exclude the official LP structure from financial matters.
Commenting on the internal party crisis between the Julius Abure and Lamidi Apapa factions, Arambri accused Obi of siding with individuals who he claimed had “rigged out the party from within.”
On election day logistics, Arambri blamed Obi’s team for failing to deploy agents to most polling units, leaving the party without the data needed to support its post-election legal claims.
“He went to court without results from most polling units because agents were not paid,” he said, adding that only 54,000 agents were deployed out of the required 199,000.
Reacting to reports that Obi had made donations worth over ₦600 million to churches and other institutions, Arambri expressed skepticism.
“Obi’s people say he donated over ₦600 million in one year. Where is the evidence? The party never received such funds. This is the man who wants to govern Nigeria? There’s no transparency. No accountability,” he said.
