Obi campaign DG, Osuntokun reacts to link with ZLP

The newly-appointed Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Prof Akin Osuntokun, has clarified his link with the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

This comes amid revelations that the Labour Party campaign DG is contesting for the Ekiti Central senatorial district seat under the ZLP.

Osuntokun, a former political aide to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, emerged as the new campaign lead after a strategic meeting of the Labour Party candidates and the National Working Committee of the party in Abuja.

He replaced the erstwhile DG of the Obi-Datti Campaign Organisation, Doyin Okupe, who threw in the towel following his indictment and conviction by a Federal High Court in Abuja for violating the Money Laundering Act.

Meanwhile, findings confirmed that sitting on number 392 on page 57 of the Independent National Electoral Commission's (INEC) register was the name ‘Osuntokun Olusola Akintola’, representing Ekiti Central on the platform of the ZLP.

Reacting to the development, Osuntokun denied being a member of the ZLP, adding that he never had the said senatorial ambition as speculated.

Speaking to The Punch, the Labour Party campaign DG said the allegation had no relevance whatsoever.

He explained that the ZLP chairman insisted that he join the party with the belief that it was Labour Party.

Osuntokun's explanation: “That’s a redundant issue. I have left the ZLP. It was actually the Constitution that I wrote. Dan Nwanyanwu was the chairman of (Zenith) Labour Party. It was at his insistence that I entered the party because I thought it was Labour Party.

“That was until I discovered it was the Zenith Labour Party. So I am not a member of the ZLP anyway. That’s why I said it is a redundant issue. It is of no consequence.

“Of course, I never took it up in the first instance. You can go and verify the case for yourself. You can ask even the ZLP leaders as well Nwanyanwu who is the chairman himself.”