Asked if he would be under any form of pressure to get Obi to Aso Villa, Osuntokun admitted that he would not be the only person undergoing such pressure.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The new Director General of the Labour Party’s Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has said that he did not lobby for the position.
Osuntokun, a former aide to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo, was unveiled as the new helmsman of Peter Obi’s campaign in Abuja on Tuesday.
He replaces the former DG, Doyin Okupe, who resigned following his conviction for violating the Money Laundering Act.
Responding to questions from PUNCH on his new position, Osuntokun said the 2023 presidential election will not be about sentiments but about “competence and antecedents.”
Asked if he would be under any form of pressure to get Obi to Aso Villa, Osuntokun admitted that he would not be the only person undergoing such pressure.
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Osuntokun said though his new role may come with additional responsibilities, he was equal to the task of taking pressure.
“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.
“Naturally, I feel good about it. 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 organisation, 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,” he said.
Osuntokun, a former managing director of the News Agency of Nigeria, admitted that he hopes to use his experience to get Obi elected as Nigeria’s next president.
“It is not new terrain. I led the 2003 and 2007 presidential elections as a political adviser,” he said.
