Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Igbo youths under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youth Leaders, COSEYL, have advised the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, against using a fellow Southern, and Christian, as his running mate in the 2023 poll.
COSEYL was reacting to the claims by the Director General of Obi’s Campaign Organisation and former Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Dr Doyin Okupe, that he was Obi’s running mate.
Okupe made the claims while fielding questions on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today.’
He said that his name had been submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, by his party.
According to him: “I stand in as the vice presidential candidate of the party.
“Labour party has submitted my name as the VP of the party,” he said.
INEC had earlier given Friday June 17 as the deadline for the submission of names of vice presidential candidates of all political parties involved in the general election.
President General of COSEYL, Comrade Goodluck Ibem told Ikengaonline that there was nothing wrong if Okupe’s name was submitted in the interim while search was being intensified for a standard running mate from the North.
He said that the religious plurality of Nigeria does not yet favour a Christian/Christian or Muslim/Muslim ticket, and advised Obi to look for a northern Muslim with clean record like him.
According to him Nigeria youths of all ethnic backgrounds will vote massively for anyone that has the economic blueprint to fix the country.
