The Labour Party (LP) has said that a former Presidential spokesman to ex-presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Doyin Okupe, has always been a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) man.
The National Publicity Secretary of the LP, Mr Obiora Ifoh, told Daily Trust on Monday that Okupe should not be where his ideology would be confused.
He was reacting to Okupe’s resignation from the LP in a letter dated Monday 8 January 2024.
“Yes, we received the letter from Dr. Doyin Okupe, tendering his resignation as a member of the Labour Party. We want to say that we wish him very well in his pursuit of his political career. We in the Labour Party cherish the moment we had with him.
“After a short time, December 2022, when he had cause to leave the campaign based on some legal issues, we thank him for the contributions he made when he was the chairman of the DG of the campaign.
“We wish him very well. We want to say that he is saying that he is leaving because he is a Liberal Democrat, while the Labour Party is a Social Democrat.
“It is also a good thing because he is not expected to be in a territory where his ideological bent will be confused or different. He has always been a PDP man, so the Labour Party expects that he will return to anywhere he wants to be.
“We wish him all the best in his future political pursuit. Though we saw the letter on social media but we have not received it officially,” Ifoh said.
Daily Trust reports that Okupe in December 21, 2022 resigned as Peter Obi’s Campaign Director over conviction for corruption.
His resignation as the Director General (DG) of the LPs Presidential Campaign Council, followed money laundering conviction by a Federal High Court, in Abuja.
Okupe had, following his conviction, subsequently paid the sum of N13m, after Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu found him guilty of receiving over N200m cash from former National Security Adviser (NSA), Sambo Dasuki.
Okupe paid the N13m fine, just few hours to the deadline given by the court. He was replaced by Chief Akin Osuntokun.
Okupe was a National Publicity Secretary of the defunct National Republican Convention (NRC). He was once detained under General Sani Abacha, and subsequently disqualified from participating in United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) primaries.
He was also a governorship aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State.
