Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, has appointed Akin Osuntokun, a former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria and a former aide to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as the new director general of his campaign council.
This was announced was made on Tuesday, December 27, 2022 by the Labour Party national chairman, Julius Abure, after a meeting, which had Obi, members of the party’s National Working Committee and many other political stakeholders of the party in attendance.
Akin Osuntokun, replaces former director general of the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Dr Doyin Okupe, who resigned from the position last Tuesday following a Federal High Court judgement in Abuja that convicted him for breaching the Money Laundering Act.
Okupe had announced his resignation through a letter addressed to Obi and the LP presidential campaign council. The campaign council’s media officer, Diran Onifade, had confirmed that Okupe had paid N13m fine handed to him by the court.
He said as the party that respects the rule of law, its officials will obey court judgments promptly.
Okupe has appealed
Osuntokun served as political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo and also as director of the Presidential campaign of the PDP during the 2011 elections.
The veteran journalist became the South-West leader of Labour Party after he defected from PDP to LP in August 2022.
Obi and the Labour Party had sought to appoint Modupe Adelaja, a former defence minister and daughter of late Afenifere leader, Pa Abraham Adesanya, as Okupe’s replacement but had a last-minute change of plan.
Also, Isaac Balami, a former pilot who serves as the deputy campaign manager, had also been tipped to replace Okupe. According to inside sources, 48 Yoruba groups had endorsed Balami based on his alleged popularity with Peter Obi Support Groups.
In a statement signed on December 26, 2022, Afenifere National Youth Council announced it preference for Balami based on his personality and credibility.
“His credibility in the north is bankable as a block vote for the ObiDatti mandate. Well-exposed and articulate. He has the support and confidence of the youth, and we are ready to work with him. We are convinced of his delivery based on what he has achieved and can deliver on,” the statement signed by Prince Eniola Ojajuni, the organisation’s president, said in part.
