Obasanjo backing Obi-Datti

Via Punch:

…The new Director General of the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has disclosed that former president Olusegun Obasanjo is a major supporter of the Obi-Datti campaign.

This was as he revealed that his senatorial ambition has been abandoned to a higher calling as Labour Party campaign DG.

Osuntokun, who made this known on Wednesday in an interview on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television, noted that although the former president has not publicly endorsed Mr Peter Obi as president, he is a major supporter of the Obi presidential campaign.

He, however, dismissed insinuations that he was allotted the position on the basis of his relationship with the former president, insisting that it was solely on merit.

He said, “Yes, former president Olusegun Obasanjo is backing the Obi-Datti campaign, but I am not representing his voice or slot.

“You are correct, we are allies to former president Olusegun Obasanjo but he is more like a father figure to us. That is a better description of the relationship.”

Speaking further on his senatorial ambition, the former managing director of NAN, said his position as the LP campaign DG is a “higher calling” compared to running for senate.

He also claimed that no law had been breached in his appointment and wondered why the suspended LP national publicity secretary, Arabambi Ayobami is fueling baseless rumours.

“No I am not running for senate, I have abandoned it if that is what you want to hear.

“I can’t help anybody who wants to pursue notoriety as a way of life. The man who is doing this is supposedly the national publicity secretary of the Labour Party. Why would someone do that to his own party? It is a redundant question and has no consequence. Joining the obi campaign for me is a higher national priority than any other aspiration.

“The campaign office has issued a release in that respect, the question is what law have I breached in accepting the appointment or what law has the presidential candidate breached in appointing me?

“A presidential campaign council is not the same thing as the party hierarchy. For instance when I was appointed the director of publicity in 2002, I was not a member of PDP but if I take responsibility and assume office then effectively, I become a member so to that extent I am a member.

“So, it’s a redundant question at any rate. It’s of no consequence at all, whether legally or constitutionally — very frivolous. There is no moral burden at all.

“It is a higher order of priority. Joining the Obi campaign is a higher national priority than any other aspiration. As a citizen of this country, who has a realistic appreciation of what we need to move Nigeria forward, you can’t compare an aspiration to be in the senate to the position that I have occupied.

“All these kinds of platitudes are unnecessary. In Nigeria today, there is no way I can define my political and moral priorities better than the path I have followed.”