Doyin Okupe, the former director-general of the Labour Party presidential campaign, made it clear that both he and the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi, did not share the same beliefs as the party. This statement was given during an interview with Arise Television.
According to Okupe, the Labour Party served as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) solely for the purpose of the presidential election. He emphasized that his membership in the party ended after Obi lost the election, and he officially left the party in January due to ideological differences.
Okupe explained that neither he nor Obi identified as labor or leftist individuals. Instead, they saw the party as a platform that was readily available to them. They believed that if they had won the election, they could have found a way to reach a consensus with the labor party, as there are no strict rules when it comes to ideologies. They were open to finding a middle ground between the left and the right.
He further clarified that Peter Obi, like himself, is a trader and a businessman, not a labor or leftist person. Okupe described himself as a liberal democrat who believes in liberal democracy and free enterprise. He emphasized that he is not a social worker and that his membership in the labor party expired the moment they lost the election.
In addition, Okupe criticized the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for presenting a northerner as its candidate for the 2023 election, deeming it unreasonable.
