Okupe’s resignation won’t affect our fortunes— Yunusa, LP spokesman

Yunusa Tanko, the national publicity secretary of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, has said that the resignation of Doyin Okupe will not directly affect the fortunes of the party in the southwest geopolitical zone.

Tanko in a chat with BusinessDay in Abuja, said that Okupe, a former director-general of PeterObi/ Datti Campaign Organisation, in the 2023 presidential election, has the right to seek a new political group to actualise his ambition.

“Okupe has been relatively inactive since he resigned from office as the DG of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Council, so, his resignation did not come some of as a surprise”

Tanko said the party has been involved in alignment and re-alignment, adding that “we knew that it was just a matter of time for the former senior special assistant in charge of public affairs to former President Goodluck Jonathan, to find his political bearing.

“Okupe has a right to pursue his political ambition through any platform and no one can deny that. Labour Party on the other hand has been involved in alignment and re-alignment of its activities, so we have extended our blessings to him as he pursues his future endeavours, but I can assure you that his exit will not in any way affect our fortunes.”

Okupe anchored his resignation from the Labour Party, on ideological differences that emerged after the 2023 elections.

He explained that his lifelong alignment with right-wing and liberal democratic principles clashed with LP’s left-of-centre ideology, making continued membership untenable.

According to him, “We did contest the election on the platform of the Labour Party and lost. This makes it exceedingly difficult for me to continue to stay in the Labour Party, which is ideologically rooted in the left of the centre.

“I have been a rightist and a liberal democrat my entire life. It is, therefore, this ideological conflict that makes me seek an exit so that I may continue my political activities with liberalism, sincerity and freedom.

In his reaction also, Obiora Ifoh, the party’s national publicity secretary, while accepting the resignation, wished Okupe well in his future endeavours.