Dr Doyen Okupe the Director General of Peter Obi Campaign organization has been submitted to INEC as the running mate for the Labour Party`s (LP) presidential candidate for the February 2023 presidential election.
This decision was made on Friday in a hurry in other to beat the fast expiring INEC deadline for political parties participating in the February presidential election to submit their candidates and running mates to the Commission or face possible disqualification.
This disclosure was personally made by Dr Okupe Friday evening while answering questions on Channels Television Politics Today program, which was monitored by a Clariform reporter.
Dr. Okupe also clarified that this decision is a temporary measure to allow the Labour Party fulfil the requirement of INEC, but not the final decision of the party on who will be the running mate of the LP.
The INEC deadline was on Friday 17th at 6pm. However, the parties still has a window to replace any of the candidates or running mates submitted to the Commission.
Therefore, his candidature as Peter Obi`s running mate is subject to further developments as the campaign organization continues with further negotiation with other political parties “to build a strong coalition that is capable of upstaging the PDP and APC in the presidential election”.
He said: “You will understand that Mr. Peter Obi came into the Labour Party on the 29th of May, which is just about…three weeks ago.
“Our idea and our reasoning is to bring together in this country for the first time the largest political coalition possible because we are facing two political giants, the APC and the PDP, and we are serious about upstaging them and we will.
“But to do that we cannot do it alone. We need to put together this coalition. The so-called 3rd Force is now alive and it is forming, and it is important for us to ensure that all the stakeholders are carried along from the beginning to the end.
“We do not want a situation where people say, ok, you have cooked this soup, you have finished it, what is the need for us. So because of this `I Dr Doyin Okupe is standing as the Vice Presidential candidate` for the Labour Party.”
The DG of Peter Obi Campaign organization also used the same medium to confirm that they are talking to many groups and all political parties for possible coalition, except the PDP and APC.
“There is no secret here. We are talking to so many groups, so many youth groups. We are talking to so many political formations. We are talking to PRP…NNPP…SDP. We are talking to every possible major political outfit outside APC and PDP. We are not hiding anything.” Said Dr. Okupe
Clariform reports that Dr. Okupe is from the Southern part of Nigeria, just as Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party. It is usually not the practice for political parties to field major candidate and the running mate one region or zone of the country.
It could be understood that this decision to field Dr Okupe could be based on the understanding that he could be trusted to step down for a new candidate later agreed by the new coalition that the Peter Obi Campaign Organization is building across the country.
Clariform has reported that Senator Ahmed Lawan, the current president of the Senate is having problem getting Bashir Michina, a former political ally who was elected unopposed during a possible make shift primary to hold the Yobe North Senatorial ticket in trust for him (Lawan).
