The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says Akin Osuntokun, director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, remains a Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) senatorial candidate.
Osuntokun was announced as the LP campaign DG after taking over from Doyin Okupe who resigned after he was convicted of breaching the Money Laundering Act.
It was reported that Osuntokun was listed by INEC as the candidate of the ZLP for Ekiti central senatorial district.
In a recent interview on Channels Television, Osuntokun said he has “abandoned” his senatorial ambition, adding that his position as the LP campaign DG is a “higher calling”.
However speaking with newsmen on Friday, Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner for information, said Osuntokun remains the ZLP senatorial candidate as the period for withdrawal and substitution of candidates had passed.
According to INEC’s timetable for the 2023 elections, July 15 was the last day for the withdrawal and substitution of candidates by political parties for presidential and national assembly elections.
“He remains the candidate of the Zenith Labour Party. The window for withdrawal and substitution based on our timetable and the electoral act 2022 has closed. No candidate can withdraw, and none can come in except through a court order,” Okoye said.
On the legality of the director-general’s move, Okoye said “the issue of party appointments remains within the domestic realm of the parties and the commission has nothing to do with it”.
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