By Taiwo Ajala
It took just a tweet for Doyin Okupe, a former senior special assistant on public affairs to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, to withdraw his nomination as the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP).
In the tweet on Thursday, Okupe said a letter of his withdrawal has been sent to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Okupe’s candidacy was announced on June 17 — the deadline issued by the electoral umpire for parties to submit the list of their candidates for the 2023 general poll.
Okupe had said he is “standing in” as the LP vice-presidential candidate to enable the party to form the “largest political coalition” to challenge the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
“We need to be able to put together this coalition and the so-called third 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. So, because of this, I, Dr. Doyin Okupe, am standing in as the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party,” he had said.
On Thursday, Okupe said the party’s national chairman would announce a replacement soon.
“This afternoon, I submitted my withdrawal letter from the position of the Vice Presidential candidate of the Labour Party to INEC. A replacement will be announced by [the] national chairman of [the] party shortly. I feel greatly blessed to have been part of the foundation of success for the LP.”
