A lawyer Kayode Ajulo has said presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi is in order for appointing Akin Osuntokun as the director-general (DG) of his campaign organisation.
Mr Ajulo said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) via telephone in London on Friday against the backdrop of the controversy surrounding Mr Osuntokun’s appointment.
He said the former managing director of NAN was a member of the LP and was appointed as director, southwest for Mr Obi’s campaign organisation, a position he described as equivalent to a deputy DG
The lawyer added that Osuntokun’s transition to DG was a natural thing following the resignation of Dr Doyin Okupe who was also from the southwest of Nigeria.
Ajulo said Okupe’s replacement by Osuntokun was in order because they were both from the southwest, stressing that Osuntokun was a veteran politician who was once the campaign director for former President Olúsegún Óbasanjo.
He said Osuntokun was no longer a member of the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) since August 2022, adding that he was only ZLP senatorial candidate.
According to him, no law in Nigeria governs the appointment of DG of any campaign platform in Nigeria, it’s simply a political appointment and what is basically required is trust and competence.
National chairman and presidential candidate of ZLP Dan Nwanyanwu, in a statement, also said the controversy generated by the appointment of Osuntokun was uncalled for.
According to him, Osuntokun is no longer a member of the party.
“We hold no grudges because it is his fundamental right to associate and exit from any organisation,” Nwanyanwu said.
