The new director general of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Mr. Akin Osuntokun, has uttered profanity that the party will lead Nigeria away from the culture of sentiments. 

“We are not going to help perpetuate those primordial sentiments. Being a Yoruba man, Igbo or Fulani should not be a determinant to winning the election this time”. He said  “Otherwise we will be holding ourselves accountable for all things that have gone wrong in this country. The question should be about competence and antecedents,” he continued. Osuntokun spoke about his thoughts on his appointment. “Naturally, I feel good about it,” he said of his appointment. “I look forward to the new role. It didn’t come to me as a shock. I didn’t lobby for it.” As the zonal coordinator of the South West and in the hierarchy of the campaign organization, I am next to the DG of the South West. If we look at it from that perspective, it didn’t come to me as a surprise. That is the simple explanation for that”.

The former Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria said he has “a considerable wealth of experience in the Nigerian presidential election,” which will help him run his new job. “It is not new terrain. I led the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections as a political adviser”, he stated. When asked if he would be under pressure in his new role after Okupe’s departure, Osuntokun replied, “Of course, so will be the other DGs of other campaigns. Anybody in the campaign hierarchy will necessarily be under pressure until after the election. It is not an armchair position.”