A former Labour Party presidential campaign director-general, Doyin Okupe, has disclosed that the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, never truly believed in the party’s ideologies.
Okupe made this statement on Arise Television’s ‘The Morning Show’ on Tuesday, News About Nigeria reports.
According to Okupe, the Labour Party was merely a “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) for the presidential election and not a genuine commitment to the party’s values.
He explained that he and Obi, along with other leaders, saw the party as a means to an end, rather than a long-term ideological affiliation.
Okupe, who resigned from the Labour Party in January due to ideological differences, stated that his membership ended with Obi’s loss in the election.
He said, “The LP for us—for Peter Obi and I—and those in the leadership of the movement… The party was a special-purpose vehicle (SPV). I have never been a labour person, I have never operated on the left before, but we needed a platform, and this was the only platform readily available to us.”
Okupe further revealed that Obi, a former Anambra governor, who defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the Labour Party in 2023, is not a natural fit for the Labour Party’s leftist ideology but rather a businessman and trader. Okupe described himself as a liberal Democrat who believes in free enterprise, and that he is not a social worker and never truly belonged in the Labour Party.
This revelation is set to add a fresh spark to the soft battle between Okupe and the LP.
Recall that the Labour Party leadership had previously dismissed Okupe’s resignation from the party as “good riddance,” labeling him a “political harlot.”
According to the party, its “response wouldn’t have been necessary if Okupe had left quietly or perhaps claimed ‘personal reasons’ for his actions, but by way of him demeaning a party believed to have won the majority of votes by Nigerians but was denied victory by the Nigerian system was clearly a mischief carried too far.”
The party further slammed Okupe, saying he was forced to resign from his role within the party, “halfway into the campaign because of the baggage he came with from the other party where he served.”
In December 2022, Okupe resigned as the campaign DG following his conviction in a money laundering case.
