Mr Akin Osuntokun, the new director general of the Labour Party's Presidential Campaign Council, promised that the party will steer Nigeria away from the sentimental culture.
We won't support the perpetuation of those primitive ideas, he emphasized. Being a Yoruba, Igbo, or Fulani man should not be a deciding factor in this election. “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,” he continued.
Osuntokun spoke on his thoughts on his appointment, as reported by Prime 9ja Online. “Naturally, I feel good about it,” he said of his appointment. “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”.
The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria said he has “a considerable wealth of experience in the Nigerian presidential election,” which will help him run his new job.
“It is not new terrain. I led the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections as a political adviser”, he stated.
When asked if he would be under pressure in his new role after Okupe’s departure, Osuntokun replied, “Of course, so will be the other DGs of other campaigns. Anybody in the campaign hierarchy will necessarily be under pressure until after the election. It is not an armchair position.”