Akin Osuntokun, the Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, has denied the existence of any rift or misunderstanding in the Labour Party, calling Lamidi Apapa and his executives tools in the hands of the opposition to destabilise the party. Osuntokun labelled them as provocateurs paid to dent the reputation and unity of the party, especially as they challenge the outcome of the February 25 presidential election, which announced Ahmed Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner.
Osuntokun, who took over the position as DG from Doyin Okupe, spoke on Arise Television on Wednesday, providing clarity to a number of pertinent issues, especially as regards the Supreme Court’s affirmation of the Osun State governor’s victory and the party’s chances at the presidential election tribunal.
He queried the logic behind the gestapo style of taking over leadership of a political party employed by Apapa, especially not fully exploring the full benefit of going through the National Election Council (NEC) of the party.
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“Because of the nuisance that it has, I think you should ask yourself what the process is for a party member to become a legitimate or valued member of the party. Can a deputy national chairman wake up one day and start claiming that he has become the chairman of the party?” he asked.
“Yet another person calls himself the national secretary. So there is the contribution of the media, and obviously this charade is being sponsored by our opponents, who are used to doing this kind of thing.”
He claimed that prior to this development, nobody had ever seen Apapa and some of his executives at any of the party’s functions, so it became laughable to take them seriously and only see them as provocateurs.
“There are no issues in the party, as I said; I have never seen any of these guys in our party functions or in our elections. They just came out of nowhere and started serving as provocateurs,” he said.
He stated one of the serious acts that clearly identifies them as paid agents by those hell-bent on destabilising the party.
“Remember the other time that they issued a statement saying that they were disbanding the presidential campaign council; they were withdrawing our petition before the presidential election tribunal? Who does that to his party?” he asked.
Meanwhile, on the perceived celebration of some senior members of the APC over the Supreme Court judgement affirming Governor Adeleke’s victory as winner of the Osun July 19 gubernatorial election, Osuntokun was amused by such celebration from their quarters.
He said that it was difficult to take the APC party seriously, especially as they have mastered the act of distorting news in their favour.
He said, “I don’t see how those who have defrauded in collusion, maybe with INEC, and how that judgement and the logic of it will serve their purpose. Because if something is already in BVAS that you cannot change, I don’t think that APC should rejoice in that judgement.
“I don’t see how APC and its people are experts at distorting news. They can tell you that black is white, so it is difficult to actually respond to the kind of statements they make—something that is illogical. On what basis are we challenging the results.”
