Doyin Okupe, the former director-general of the Labour Party’s (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, has announced that he can no longer support Peter Obi, the party’s former presidential candidate. Okupe made this declaration during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today  with Seun Okinbaloye on Monday.

His remarks came in response to a viral video in which Obi questioned whether the south-west had benefitted economically under President Bola Tinubu, despite Tinubu being a Yoruba man. Obi highlighted the high cost of living, citing the price of rice at N100,000, and asked, “It’s our turn, he’s a Yoruba man but ask the people in Ogun, is there any place you buy bread cheaper?”

Okupe criticized Obi’s comments, labeling them as an insult to the people of the south-west, particularly given the support Obi received from prominent Yoruba figures during his presidential campaign. “When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi,” he stated.

He cited former President Olusegun Obasanjo as an influential Yoruba leader who supported Obi in 2023. Okupe explained that his initial support for Obi stemmed from a consensus that a southern president should emerge, believing the south-east should have the opportunity. However, he indicated that Obi’s recent comments have shifted his stance.

“If all these eminent Yoruba people supported you, why now bring us down publicly? It is wrong,” Okupe added, expressing his disappointment in Obi’s statement and declaring his withdrawal of support.