How We Spent N744m On Legal Expenditure – Obi-Datti

Labour Party Presidential Campaign a.k.a Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign has opened up on how it spent N744,500,000.00 as legal expenses for the 2023 presidential election.

The campaign said the sum includes the legal fees, research, accommodations, transportation local and international flights, and stationery of various documents.

Chief spokesperson of the Obi-Datti Campaign Committee, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, made this disclosure in a statement on his X handle.

Tanko said “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,” he said.