Why I Agreed To Become Peter Obi’s Campaign DG – Osuntokun

The new Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), Akin Osuntokun, said he accepted the role because of the antecedents and competence of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Naija News reports that Osuntokun was named as the DG of the LP PCC on Tuesday following the resignation of Doyin Okupe who resigned from the position last week.

Okupe exited the position after he was sentenced to jail by Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of a Federal High Court in Abuja on December 19, 2022, for violating the Money Laundering Act.

The court found Okupe guilty of receiving over N200 million cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.

In an interview with The Puch on Wednesday, Osuntokun said he accepted to lead the Obi/Datti campaign without religious or ethnic sentiments.

The LP chieftain said he was not bothered by the critics from the South West that he agreed to work with Obi, who is from the South East.

He said, “We are taking Nigeria away from the culture of sentiments. We are not going to help in perpetuating those primordial sentiments. Being a Yoruba man, Igbo or Fulani should not be a determinant to winning the election this time.

“Otherwise, we will be holding ourselves responsible for all things that have gone wrong in this country. The question should be about competence and antecedents.”

Speaking further, Osuntokun admitted that though his new role may come with additional pressure, he is equal to the task.

The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) added that his appointment didn’t come to him as a surprise due to his former position in the party.

He said, “Naturally, I feel good about it. I look forward to the new role. It didn’t come to me as a shock. I didn’t lobby for it.

“As the zonal coordinator of the South West and in the hierarchy of the campaign organisation, I am next to the DG of the South West. If we look at it from that perspective, it didn’t come to me as a surprise. That is the simple explanation for that.”