THE spokesperson of the Labour Party (LP), Obiora Ifoh, has said that the party is not bothered by recent comments by a former director-general (DG) of its presidential campaign council, Doyin Okupe, on the party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.
In a viral video seen online, Okupe said Obi’s presidential ambition forced him to contest against Atiku Abubakar, the former vice president and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the 2023 poll.
Rejecting claims that he betrayed Obi, Okupe said he chose to drop his support for the former Anambra State governor because he was no longer interested in working with him.
“In 2019 Obi was the vice-presidential candidate of Atiku Abubakar who brought him to the national limelight. Because of his own ambition, which was correct and due, Obi left the party and contested against Atiku. If people said I betrayed Obi, what did Obi do to Atiku? It is not fair.
“It is Obi’s interest in 2023 that made him go on a collision course against his former master. Obi was not my master; I was his supporter. If I supported him up to a point and decided to go back and be myself, how can that be an offence?” Okupe asked.
He claimed that when he started politics in 1978, Obi was nowhere.
“I wish Obi well, but I am done with him. We wanted to achieve something, but we couldn’t achieve it,” he added.
However, responding to Okupe’s claims in a chat with The ICIR on Saturday, July 20, the LP’s spokesperson, Obiora, Ifoh said Okupe did not deserve a response.
According to him, he doesn’t think the party should dignify Okupe with any response.
“He is trying to, as usual, find his way into the government of the APC. We are not bothered,” Ifoh stated.
Obi defected from the PDP to the LP in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
The ICIR reported that Obi, who came third in the 2023 presidential election, challenged the result declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but eventually lost at the Supreme Court.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance