The Labour Party Presidential Campaign Organisation also known as the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign has issued clarification following certain impression given to some aspects of expenses released to the public by the campaign office as it relates to their legal expenses.

In a statement signed by Dr. Yunusa Tanko, the Chief Spokesperson of the presidential campaign committee of the party and its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, the campaign office clarified that the sum of N744,500,000.00 was a general legal amount to lawyers which incorporates other expenses within the legal expenditure, adding that the legal fee to their lawyers “remains a personal thing” but that “the compound expenses on legal matters cannot be tied to one sector.”

The statement reads:

The attention of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign a.k.a Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign has been drawn to the impression given to some aspects of expenses released to the public by our campaign office as it relates to our legal expenses.

For further clarification the sum of N744,500,000.00 was a general legal amount to lawyers which incorporates other expenses within the legal expenditure.

The legal fee to our lawyers remains a personal thing but our compound expenses on legal matters cannot be tied to one sector.

Also involved in this sum are research, accommodations, transportation local and international flights, and stationery of our various documents.

We would like to be on the same page with the public on this matter and to remind the public that it encompasses all the things concerning our legal cases, ranging from pre-election to post-election legal processes.

Including also the filing of cases before elections, on matters involving our candidate, transmitting and photocopying of legal documents, bringing experts from overseas during our post-election legal battles, and their accommodation all form the legal expenses.

Also included were the funding of lawyers sent to States to collect electoral materials from INEC State offices and financial assistance to some of the candidates of the Party who had legal issues, among others.

As a body determined to inject sanity into our polity, We will continue in the right direction in ensuring that we transparently account for these funds.

We continue to thank those who assisted us in one way or the other, especially our legal team at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, whose hard work and sacrifices remain immeasurable, despite the outcome of our election petitions, which can only be blamed on the Nigerian factor.

And to keep assuring Nigerians, especially the youths, that a New Nigeria is possible, and that we must remain committed to our journey irrespective of the present challenges we face.

StreetReporters.ng