The director general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, has said that there is no comparison between the party’s presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi and his All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts, Messrs Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubakar respectively.
Speaking in an interview, Osuntokun said Nigerians have become politically wiser as they would not accept to be bribed or bought by money.
He added that Nigerians had retraced from what he called “backward politicking” with the coming of Obi into the political fray.
“I don’t think there is a basis for such controversy. Obi is superior to the two of them by a wide margin. This time, Nigerians will not accept to be bribed or bought by money. You have seen how people promote the popularity and acceptance of Peter Obi. It is spontaneous and overwhelming. That’s an indication that people have crossed that sort of backward politicking.
“Secondly, at the core of Obi’s campaign are the Nigerian youths, who have continued to play the role in all society. They represent and personify their own idea of what Nigeria’s leadership should be. One of the surprises we are going to have is the futility of buying votes. I have no fear in that regard,” Osuntokun stated in an interview with The Punch.
On his emergence as the boss of the party’s campaign council, instead of Mr. Isaac Balami, Osuntokun said it is natural that the successor would automatically come from the same geopolitical zone as the erstwhile director general, Dr Doyin Okupe.
No, I don’t think we should make every issue political. Remember that the former director general was from the southwest. Naturally, it is expected that somebody from the same region should replace him. It has nothing to do with prejudice.
“Besides, Balami is a wonderful guy. He has also contributed tremendously to the party. I think what counted primarily for my appointment is the fact that I am from the South-West. I have spoken with Balami. My own interpretation of things is that somebody from the South-West should succeed Dr Doyin Okupe,” he said.
On the possibility of coming under criticism for promoting a presidential candidate from the southeast at the expense of Tinubu his kinsman, Osuntokun said he belongs to a bloc in Afenifere that wants power shift to the southeast.
“First and foremost, I have been a zonal coordinator of sorts in the South-West and already in the campaign to face Tinubu. Secondly, I belong to the Afenifere group and that is their position. Thirdly, in the perspective of equity, fairness and justice, there is no zone more deserving of producing the Nigerian president than the Igbo people of the southeast. And, of course, as I said, we cannot continue to compare Obi with the two other candidates. There is no basis for comparison at all. He is head and shoulder above the two of them.
“I have been known by our people in the southwest and, I daresay, Nigeria at large. As an upright person, I always take position on the basis of principles. Before I joined this campaign, you have been reading my column in the last few years and you can bear me witness that I have always championed the cause of the presidency being conceded to the South-East. The Yoruba have gone past that,” Osuntokun stated.
