Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, the national chairman of the Zenith Labour Party, has clarified the party’s relationship with newly appointed Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council Akin Osuntokun.
ZLP said that Osuntokun left the party in August 2022 and was thus free to associate with other parties in a statement made accessible to newsmen on Friday.
Days after Doyin Okupe resigned from the role, Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi on Tuesday introduced Osuntokun, a former adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo, as his campaign director general.
There were worries after the appointment that Osuntokun might continue to run for senator in Ekiti State under the ZLP.
To set the record straight, Nwayanwu, who is also running for president of the ZLP, insisted that Osuntokun was no longer a party member.
Nwayanwu claimed in a statement dated December 29, 2022 that the group had no animosity toward Osuntokun.
The statement read, “The controversy generated by the appointment of Mr. Akin Osuntokun as the DG of H/E Peter OBI Campaign organization is uncalled for.
“Akin Osuntokun resigned from the Zenith LABOUR Party in August 2022 and therefore no longer a member of our Party.
“Prior to his resignation from ZLP, he held the ticket as a Senatorial Candidate in Ekiti State. At the time of his resignation, we could not replace him because the window allowed by the Electoral Act for substitution had elapsed.
“We hold no grudges because it is his fundamental right to associate and exit from any organization. We wish him well in his newfound greener pasture.
“We believe this will put to rest the barrage of inquiries to us in this regard.”
