According to documents obtained by SaharaReporters, the travails being faced by Abure were self-inflicted.
The embattled national chairman of the Labour Party, Comrade Julius Abure and his national executive committee may be charged with forgery, conspiracy and perjury.
This comes as they were indicted in a police investigation on the alleged forgery of signatures of candidates who won party primaries but had their tickets given to other persons.
Abure who was suspended indefinitely by his Edo Labour Party Ward Executive for various offences such as forgery and perjury and subsequently removed as the national chairman of the party has attributed his travails to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to undermine the Labour Party.
According to documents obtained by SaharaReporters, the travails being faced by Abure were self-inflicted.
Abure and his EXCO were alleged to have given the ticket of the Orhionmwon/Uhunmwonde Edo federal constituency won by Imasuen Paul Murphy to former Edo State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt Hon. Uyinmwen Ativie. Also, the governorship ticket for Ebonyi state won by Eze Oko was given to one Nkwegu Edward Okereke, who was declared as the governorship candidate of the party.
Abure and his national executive allegedly forged withdrawal letters and sworn court affidavits on oath, which were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, to replace candidates who primary elections with their preferred candidates, who might have paid to get the tickets.
Certified True Copies of the police investigation report on the alleged forgery and perjury of the Voluntary Withdrawal Letter of Oko from contesting the governorship election in Ebonyi state submitted to INEC, which SaharaReporters obtained on Friday, revealed that Oko’s signature was forged. It was also noted that he did not write the said letter of withdrawal.
The report, “Re: Alleged Case Of Forgery, Perjury And Criminal Conspiracy”, was signed by Assistant Commissioner of Police Special Enquiry Bureau Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department, ACP Junaid Bukar.
The report partly reads: “This deals with an alleged case of Conspiracy, Forgery and Perjury reported to the Deputy Inspector-General of Police by J. O. Asoluka, SAN and Co. on behalf of Mr. Eze Oko 'M' against above-mentioned suspects of the Labour Party. The petition was approved and referred to the Special Enquiry Bureau (SEB) through letter No. CS:7000/X/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.579/134 dated 23 September, 2022 for Investigation and report.”
On the facts of the case, the report says: “The complainant, Mr Eze Oko 'M alleged that on 9 June, 2022 he fully participated and won the 2023 Gubernatorial Primary Election of the Labour Party (LP) in Ebony, State which was duly monitored by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Consequently, his name was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the Ebonyi State Gubernatorial candidate of the Political Party for the 2023 General Election.
“He further alleged that without his consent/knowledge and authorization, he was substituted with one Nkegwu Edward Okereke who participated in the Primary election of All Progressive Congress (APC) and failed. That the substitution was fraudulently effected through an allegedly forged withdrawal Letter and Membership Card purported to be signed by him which was submitted to INEC.
“Findings: From the investigation carried out, the following findings emerged: The Complainant, Eze Okoh is a member of the Labour Party, Ebonyi State.
“That the Complainant Participated in the Ebonyi State Primary Gubernatorial Election held on 9th June, 2022 and emerged the winner in the Primary Election.
“That Inyia Plus, Oko Darlington and Ejiofor Chukwu are the members of the Electoral Panel who conducted the election for Labour Party Primary Election, Ebonyi State.
"A withdrawal Letter by Eze Oko who emerged the winner of the Ebonyi State Primary Election was submitted to INEC. That the withdrawal letter allegedly signed by Eze Oko was proven to be comprehensively false and forged.
“That the said Eze Oko stated categorically that he did not sign the withdrawal letter. The withdrawal letter alongside other signature specimens of Eze Oko was sent to the Forensic Expert of the Nigeria Police Force for analysis. That analysis of the signature sent to the Forensic Department revealed that the signature was forged.”
On its recommendation, the police report says, “From investigation conducted so far, a prima facie case of Conspiracy and Forgery has been established against the suspects as the Forensic experts have confirmed that the Party submitted a withdrawal Letter that was forged. “However, some of the suspects have vehemently refused to report in order to exercise their right to fair hearing despite writing them four different letters.
“This in itself is an affront to constituted authority as well as blatant disregard to law and order. It is worthy to note that the vehement refusal of the National Chairman, The National Secretary and the National Treasurer of the Labour Party to report for an interview has prompted the Procurement of Warrants of Arrest to compel their appearances to enable us conclude investigation for Public Interest.
“However, it is recommended that a duplicate copy of the case file be forwarded to the Legal Department for vetting, advice and necessary action with the Court.”
The National Youth Leader of the Labour Party, Comrade Eragbe Anslem Aphimia in an open letter to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the party in the 2023 election, chronologically stated the offences of the Abure and five other national executive committee members of the party which he said offend some sections of the LP 2019 constitution, which led to his indefinite suspension.
The letter was dated April 5, 2023.
The letter copied to Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the party and 10 others including heads of security agencies and INEC was titled: “A Compendium Of The Investigation Report And Indictment Against Barr Julius Abure And Five (5) Others By The Nigeria Police In An Alleged Case Of Perjury, Forgery And Criminal Conspiracy With Related Matters Etc, With Notice Of Ward Indefinite Suspension Of Barr Julius Abure As National Chairman Of Labour Party Dated Friday 31st March, 2023.”
In the letter, Aphimia stated that the indefinite suspension of Abure as the national chairman of the party on Friday, March 31, 2023, by ward Exco in Edo State was based primarily on the Nigeria Police Investigation Report that indicted him and five others in the matter under reference: “Application For Certified True Copies Of Police Investigation Report In An Alleged Case Of Perjury, Forgery And Criminal Conspiracy Against Barr Julius Abure And Five Others.”
He listed the indicted national officers as “Barr Julius Abure, National Chairman; Alhaji Farouk Ibrahim, National Secretary; Ojukwu Clement, National Organizing Secretary; Mrs Okpara Oluchi, National Treasurer and Hon. Jioke Godwin, Factional Chairman of the Party in Ebonyi state.”
He cited Oko and Imasuen as two specific cases, noting “that whereas, Barr Julius Abure and others were accused of forging the signature of one Mr Eze Oko, the actual winner of June 9, 2022 governorship primary in Ebonyi State and replacing him with one Nkwegu Edward Okereke as governorship candidate of the party in the state with forged withdrawal letters and sworn court affidavits on oath, which were submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
“That whereas, Abure’s move to make a former Edo State House of Assembly Speaker, Rt Hon. Uyinmwen Ativie, the party’s House of Representatives candidate for Uhunmwode /Orhionmwon Federal Constituency in Edo state through forgery and perjury again denied Comrade Murphy Imasuen who emerged as the winner of the primary election of the Federal Constituency supervised by INEC officials.
“That, rather than submit the name of the elected candidate, Murphy Imasuen, the name of Uyinmwen Ativie who recently joined the party from the ruling All Progressives Congress was submitted to the electoral commission by the Labour Party led by Barr Julius Abure as National Chairman.
“That this action is against the provisions of Section 33 of the 2022 Electoral Act which states that a political party cannot remove or substitute a candidate that emerged from a valid primary.
“That whereas Section 31 of the Electoral Act only allows for substitution when a candidate dies or when they withdraw from the race and inform INEC in writing.
“That these acts were perpetrated severally by Barr Julius Abure across different states of the federation during the 2023 National Election INEC processes of candidates which has now formed the basis for the indefinite suspension of Barr Julius Abure forthwith until proven otherwise by the courts and police processes in Nigeria on the matters of perjury and forgery for which investigations have been concluded for necessary court actions.”
Among the litany of offences Abure was said to have committed which led to his suspension by his ward include “illegal dissolution of Elected Executives in Ogun State under the Leadership of the State Chairman Comrade Ashade Michael and the State Secretary Balogun Feyisola Michael whom the constitution stipulated three (3) years uninterrupted tenures for despite the pendency of a suit at the Federal High Court duly served on the National Working Committee (NWC).” “This Action is against Article 15(2), Article 17(2) Articles 19 (1A) of the Labour Party constitution as amended 2019,” the letter says.
It further says, “Abure’s inability and refusal to mobilize funds for the states LP Chairmen led to deficiency to provide over 42,000 Polling Units Agents to INEC in the 25th February, 2023 Presidential Election which frustrated Mr Peter Obi’s efforts and has now constituted impediment to the Labour Party’s inability to Provide ALL the needed the INEC FORMS EC8A from the over 176,000 plus polling units that would be needed for the prosecution of the 2023 Presidential Election Tribunal Stolen Mandate.”
Meanwhile, a letter from the Federal Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja dated November 8, 2022, titled: “Re-request for verification/authenticity of an affidavit sworn to at the High Court of the FCT by Imasuen Paul Murphy on July, 2022,” has confirmed that the said voluntary withdrawal letter was fake.
The letter signed by the Director, Commissioner for Oaths Department for Registrar, Lawal Funmilola addressed to Mrs Annah Okunrobo through K. O. Obamagie & Co, stated: “I write to inform you that a careful investigation conducted by the Court in respect of the attached copy of letter of voluntary withdrawal bearing the name of Imasuen Paul Murphy dated 8 July, 2022 reveals that the document was not sworn to before a Commissioner for Oath in this Court because there is no name of the Commissioner for Oath on the said document and also there is no Revenue receipt number.
“Therefore, the said document did not emanate from our Court.”
Meanwhile, a member of the Integrity group of the Labour Party (LP), Ambassador Curtis Eghosa Ugbo, has called on the party loyalists and the general public not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked by the allegations being made by Abure, that his travails were caused by the ruling APC.
The governorship hopeful of the party in Edo State in 2024 said that the embattled chairman’s allegations against the APC and the government were deceitful.
He said Abure was attempting to blame his travails, which were self-inflicted, on the APC.
“How did APC cause Abure to change party tickets from those that got it through the stipulated process of party primaries to moneybags who never participated in the primaries? As we speak, there are loads of court cases, judgments against Abure and LP all over the country aimed at addressing this injustice.
“Why would Abure place his travails on the APC when it is crystal clear that he is being tackled because of his propensity to be corrupt?
“Take as an example a case in Edo State where Abure swapped a ticket which was secured through the party primaries by a candidate to another person who never participated in the primaries but offered large sums of money to Abure.
“To perfect the shady deal, Abure went as far as securing forged court papers whereby the authentic candidate claimed he had stepped down for Abure’s ‘client’.
“In one of the Southeastern states, an authentic LP candidate lost his ticket on false claims that he is dead only for the ticket to be given to the highest bidder. It would surprise you that the false claims of the death of the real candidate was supported by fake court documents sourced by Abure,” he said.
He added, “It is even wrong for him to claim glory for the successful outing of the LP in the 2023 polls. The success of the party at the polls was a reflection of the belief of Nigerians in Obi coupled with the desire of the Obidients to ensure a better lifestyle for everyone.
“What Abure has succeeded in doing is to attract scores of court cases against the LP because of his corrupt tendencies. My advice to all LP faithful is that they should be focused on the course of Peter Obi reclaiming his mandate which cannot be affected by the self-inflicted travails of Abure.
“In fact, we should all appeal to Abure to defend himself from the bags of corruption allegations against him from all parts of the country and keep the APC out of it because his ploy to bring in the APC is more like a diversion. Those that have taken him to the courts to get redress are LP members which means that the issue is entirely an internal affair of the party.”