Obi: Aged Presidential Candidates Should Retire from Politics

•Okupe resigns as Labour Party campaign DG

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja and Okon Bassey in Uyo

Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr Peter Obi, has expressed concern that instead of weak and feeble presidential candidates retiring from politics, they were still engaging themselves in the system.

This is as the Director General of Labour Party Campaign Council, Dr. Doyin Okupe, has announced his resignation from the party’s campaign council over what he described as personal travails.

According to Obi, the task to rescue and restore Nigeria needed physical energy and a presidential candidate, who was vibrant enough to go round and understand the problems of the country.

Obi, who was in Akwa Ibom State for his presidential rally, said he could not imagine being represented by anyone on a rally that concerned his mission to render service.

The presidential hopeful said he was committed to work towards the realisation of the Ibaka Deep seaport in Akwa Ibom State if elected President.

The commitment, according to him, would not be a favour done Akwa Ibom, but part of his strategic move to open more economic gateways for Nigeria.

Fielding questions on the conviction of his Director-general, Mr. Doyin Okupe over alleged money laundering, Obi said the witch-hunting of persons in his campaign team could not break his resolve to be Nigeria’s president.

“I am hearing about it (the conviction) just like you. I am still studying what is coming out of the courts and everything. I believe in the rule of law. It is not going to demoralise me.

“When I arrived Akwa Ibom somebody asked me why I haven’t been using my aircraft, because it has been grounded and all that and I said to him that nothing demoralises me.

“In my life I have never stayed where they dropped me otherwise I would have been where they dropped me before. This election if they like let them say anything about people who are around me, I will get there”.

On the impression that he does not have political structure to win the presidential election, he said he was determined to dismantle the existing political structure in the country, which encourages corruption and spreads poverty among Nigerians.

Meanwhile, Okupe, in a letter addressed to Obi, requested the appointment of a new DG to continue from where he stopped.

The latter read: “Dear Peter, You will recall that I briefed you yesterday about my personal travails in seeking justice and clearing my name using the Nigerian Legal System to pursue same. I have invested too much in your campaign to allow my personal travails to become a source of distraction.

“In the circumstances, I have opted to step aside and plead that you appoint a new Campaign DG, who can continue the assignment with zero distractions. God bless you and your family,” the letter stated.

Okupe, a former Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan, announced his resignation as DG of from LP Campaign Council a day after he was sentenced by a Federal High Court, Abuja, to two years imprisonment or pay N13 million fine for accepting cash transaction above the N5 million approved by the Money Laundering Act.

But the spokesperson of the campaign council, Yunusa Tanko, has expressed confidence that Okupe’s resignation would not affect the party, saying the party was not structured on the shoulder of one person.

“Labour Party has millions of soldiers, who can take the baton from where Okupe stopped. It is a national organic movement that no one can stop,” he stated.

In a telephone interview with THISDAY, Tanko said Okupe was a reputable democrat, who has paid his due and would continue to earn the respect of many Nigerians, who appreciated his contributions in the democratic development of the country.