Presidential Aspirant, Dr. Doyin Okupe has on Wednesday announced his withdrawal from the 2023 presidential race.
Okupe made this known while addressing newsmen in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital where he also declared his support for former Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Peter Obi.
The former aid to Ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo said the reason behind his decision was to ensure equity, justice, and fairness between the Northern and Southern parts of the country.
Okupe said “I observed that the leadership of the PDP seems to be driving us all towards a fait accomplish. The most central consideration concerning the presidential primaries is the issue of zoning.
The matter has been referred to a committee of 37 members with a member each from every state of the federation and the FCT Abuja. One would have expected that the mandate of this committee would be such that it would discharge its duties and report to the NEC of the party within a maximum of 5-7 days. Sadly, this has not been so.
It is clear to me that those at the helm of affairs of the party are trying to hoodwink those of us aspirants from the South to commit ourselves to obtain the requisite forms before coming up with the original position that ‘every zone can contest the presidency.
“This position is politically fraudulent, unjust and inequitable. As a politician, I have come to accept the ill-defined zoning arrangement, and still forge ahead with my unrepentant call for a rotation of power to the South”.
He added that his position was in line with the position of the Afenifere, which he stated that right from the time of the late Premier of the Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the yoruba nation have always stood for honour, integrity, truth and justice irrespective of the situation.
(Journalist101)
