LP Crisis: Fresh trouble for Abure as caretaker renews prosecution bid
The crisis rocking the Labour Party (LP) resurfaced with the Senator Nanedi Usman-led Caretaker Committee insisting on prosecuting Comrade Julius Abure and some of the party’s national officers for perjury, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
Chairman of the Nigerian Corruption Watch, Prince Dandy Rowland, who read the text of a press conference on behalf of Usman in Abuja on Monday, said it was mysterious that Abure and “his cohorts” were still roaming the streets despite a directive by the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to prosecute them.
Usman said, “The Labour Party LP wishes to commend the Commissioner of Police, Legal Prosecution Section, Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) Force Headquarters Abuja, FCT, in the Office of the Inspector General of Police, IGP, who wrote to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), and Minister of Justice on the 25th October, 2023, forwarding the duplicate case diary after establishing a culpable primary facie case for which the IGP authorized the prosecution of Julius Abure, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, Ojukwu Clement and Edward Nkwegu in the referenced case of perjury, forgery and criminal conspiracy CR: 3100/ X LEG/ FHQ/ ABJ/ VOL.II dated 25th October, 2023.”
Usman went on to explain that “It was further revealed from the Certified True Copies (CTC) of the documents obtained as uploaded in the INEC Portal for the Ebonyi State 2023 Gubernatorial elections, that Julius Abure and Umar Farouk Ibrahim forged a court order with which they criminally and illegally removed the name of Oko Eze the validly nominated 2023 Labour Party (LP) Gubernatorial candidate even after the Supreme Court in its judgment held that Oko Eze was the validly nominated 2023 Labour Party Gubernatorial candidate in Ebonyi State.
The former Minister of Finance equally noted that the unwarranted and inexplicable delay in prosecuting Abure and co. has raised serious concerns in anti-corruption circles.
She said this was because Nigerians are unsure how President Bola Tinubu’s administration intends to convince the nation that it is serious about dealing with corruption and all shades of criminality.
The LP National Caretaker Committee added that it has “noted with great bewilderment how the suspects Julius Abure goes about bragging and boosting that as far as his sister remains Permanent Secretary of Ministry of Justice in Abuja, that nobody can prosecute him nor his criminal accomplices.”
When contacted, the National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Obiora Ifoh, said the Caretaker Committee headed by Senator Nanedi Usman has since ceased to exist, so it was in no position to issue threats and demands.
Ifoh said, “As we speak, There is only one Labour Party under the leadership of Comrade Julius Abure. Individuals who want to derail the peace process he has initiated to reconcile members are behind this attempt to draw us back.
“We have news for them: Genuine members of our great party are looking ahead and will not be deterred by the antics of a few who have decided to act out a script to destabilize this party.”
