Atiku’s Spokesperson, Bwala Speaks On Peter Obi’s Campaign DG, Osuntokun

The spokesman to Atiku Abubakar/Ifeanyi Okowa’s presidential campaign organization, Daniel Bwala, has reacted to the appointment of Akin Osuntokun as the Labour Party’s new campaign Director-General (DG).

Recall that Labour Party on Tuesday announced Osuntokun as the replacement for embattled Doyin Okupe as campaign DG for the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, in the 2023 election.

Okupe had resigned from his position as the DG of the Labour Party presidential campaign council following a High Court judgement, which sentenced him to two years imprisonment over alleged involvement in money laundering.

With less than 60 days to the February 2023 presidential election, Labour Party was left with no choice but to immediately appoint another campaign DG, which led to the emergence of Osuntokun.

Reacting, however, to Osuntokun’s appointment, Bwala in a post via his verified Twitter page, described the appointment of the former aide to President Olusegun Obasanjo as a political scam.

He alleged that Osuntokun is a senatorial candidate of another party.

“This scam has no part 2. Imagine the DG of the Labour Party is a Senatorial candidate of another party. You cannot put something on nothing and expect it to stand,” Bwala tweeted.

Meanwhile, the PDP chieftain had earlier mocked Labour Party presidential candidate over his consistent visitation to Churches recently.

Bwala wrote on Twitter: “He moves from one church to another, God is not mocked. If your movement is for spiritual edification, amen to that. But if it is for political reasons, the church members too would be political on the day of the election and vote for candidates of their choice. Politics begat politics.”

Osuntokun Speaks On Dumping Senatorial Race For Peter Obi’s Campaign DG

Reacting earlier to controversies surrounding his appointment as the Director-General of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, Osuntokun described his senatorial ambition as a redundant position and has abandoned it for a higher calling.

Naija News reports that Osuntokun made this known on Wednesday in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

It could be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in September published Osuntokun’s name as the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) candidate for Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the 2023 elections.

Clarifying his position, however, Osuntokun explained that his position as the LP campaign DG is a higher calling compared to running for senate.

He noted that neither he nor Peter Obi has breached any law regarding the appointment and he cannot help anyone who wants to fault the position.

He said: “The campaign office has issued a press release in that respect. What law have I breached in accepting the appointment? What law has the presidential candidate who appointed me beached in appointing me?

“I can’t help anybody who wants to pursue notoriety as a way of life. The man who is doing this is supposedly the national publicity secretary of the Labour Party. Ask him: why would a national publicity secretary of a party do that to his own party?

“So, it’s a redundant question at any rate. It’s of no consequence at all, whether legally or constitutionally very frivolous. There is no moral burden at all.

“It is a higher order of priority. Joining the Obi campaign is a higher national priority than any other aspiration. As a citizen of this country, who has a realistic appreciation of what we need to move Nigeria forward, you can’t compare an aspiration to be in the senate to the position that I have occupied.

“All these kinds of platitudes are unnecessary. In Nigeria today, there is no way I can define my political and moral priorities better than the path I have followed.

“I have no moral burden. I am stepping to a higher sacrificial position. I don’t need to publicly declare it. [Ekiti ZLP senatorial candidacy] is a redundant position. I have the perfect freedom to decide what to do at any minute, so long as I have not breached any legal position. The step I am taking is of greater moral consequence for Nigeria.”