The Labour Party (LP) has asked the former Director General of its Presidential Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe, if the Labour Party was declared the winner of the 2023 presidential election, would he remain with the party or jump ship in adherence to his ideological leaning?
Recall that Okupe had resigned from the LP, citing ideological differences as his reason for leaving the party.
Grow your business with us
Speaking on Okupe’s exit via a statement in Abuja on Tuesday, the LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, described Okupe as a political opportunist.
He noted that ordinarily, the party wouldn’t have responded to him, but because of the media attention it has been generating since yesterday, they had to speak up.
Ifoh noted that a response would not have been necessary if Okupe had not tried to soil the party’s image while leaving the party.
He noted that politicians have often exhibited political harlotry by jumping from one party to another.
The LP Spokesman statement read in part, “In the letter said to have been addressed to our National Chairman, Barrister Julius Abure, which is yet to be received, Okupe cited ideological conflict as the reason he left PDP, he also addressed Labour Party pejoratively as a “Special Purpose Vehicle”.
“This 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 a mischief carried too far.
“Okupe is aware that the Labour Party is ideologically rooted in the left of the centre and he admitted that he has been a rightist and a Liberal Democrat all his entire life. One wonders what he was looking for in a party that is opposed to his ideological leaning.
“What kind of political harlotry was he exhibiting by finding no qualms in jumping from one party to another with such ease?
“His exit from the Labour Party is not in any way surprising to us. In the true character of traditional politicians who move from one place to another, he was in PDP, from the PDP to the APC and then the Labour Party, and we won’t be surprised if he goes back to his vomit and embraces either the APC or the PDP all over again. It is all about where food is ready.
“Labour Party is an ideological party; it has a clear-cut ideology which supports equal opportunity and social justice. It is specifically not a place for people like Doyin Okupe.
“Our system in the Labour Party does not support political opportunists. The system will naturally expose such political characters and eject them.
“I ask again: had the Labour Party been declared the winner of the presidential election, would Okupe remain with the party or jump ship in adherence to his ideological leaning?
“We must recall that Okupe was forced to abdicate office half way into the campaign because of the baggages he came with from the other party where he served.
“The courts whipped him into early political menopause, so he really didn’t contribute much into the Labour Party’s success in the 2023 electoral voyage; however, we are glad he acknowledged that we offered him shelter.
“Finally, the leadership of the Labour Party wishes him well in his future political adventure. We will, however, remain positive that a new Nigeria is still possible.”