2023: Osuntokun Speaks On Lobbying For His New Appointment

The new Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has said he didn’t influence his appointment.

Recall that the former Presidential aide was named as the new DG to lead the Obi campaign by the LP National Chairman, Julius Abure, in Abuja on Tuesday.

He replaced Doyin Okupe, who announced his resignation in a letter last Tuesday following a Federal High Court judgment in Abuja that convicted him of violating the Money Laundering Act.

Speaking with The Punch on Wednesday, Osuntokun said his new appointment didn’t come to him as a shock, adding that he looks forward to the new role.

He said the Labour Party (LP) flagbearer, Peter Obi, will emerge victorious in the 2023 presidential election. Osuntokun added that his considerable wealth of experience in politics would help Obi win.

The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said he is not a stranger to leading campaigns, having participated in the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections.

He said: “It is not new terrain. I led the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections as a political adviser. Naturally, I feel good about it. 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.”

Osuntokun admitted that he and other members of the campaign council will be under pressure to deliver until the presidential poll is conducted.

He added, “Of course, so will 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.

“We are taking Nigeria away from the culture of sentiments. We are not going to help in perpetuating those primordial sentiments. Being a Yoruba man, Igbo or Fulani should not be a determinant to winning the election this time.

“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.”