The former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 general elections, Akin Osuntokun, has recommended that a member from the North should become the next chairman of the party.
Osuntokun, who said this during a chat on Arise TV, noted that since the presidential candidate and leader of the party, Peter Obi is from the South, a Northern Nigerian should be the next chairman to achieve ethno-religious balance.
He also said the two other major parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have much in common in terms of composition and ideology, therefore the Labour Party needed to distinguish itself.
He said, “People join parties as it suits them. That’s why the rivalry between APC and PDP is very fluid. The people in APC, at least about 60 to 70 per cent of them, were from PDP.
“So, you can imagine. Those are the people who now go to a party that is called “progressive”. So party boundaries in Nigeria is more or less meaningless.
“What we are looking for is credibility. A leader with vision. That’s why I’ve always held that there should be room for independent candidacy in our constitution, so that aspiring presidential candidates would not be compelled to join any party.
“Most of these parties are special-purpose vehicles for those who found themselves stranded to come and use the platforms, to vie for offices. And of course, it’s at a cost. A monetary cost.
“But I think now that the presidential candidate of the Labor Party, that’s the leader of the party, is from the south.
“Now, if we believe in the logic of ethno-religious balance and what we call power shift, I’m of the opinion that the chairman of the party this time should come from the North.”
