Doyin Okupe, former director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, says he “cannot support” Peter Obi again.

Okupe spoke on Monday during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He was reacting to a viral clip of Obi commenting on how the country’s economic situation offers little succour to people in the south-west despite President Bola Tinubu being from the zone.

“Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’ — ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?” Obi said in the viral clip.

The video generated mixed reactions on social media, with some supporting Obi’s comments while others criticised him.

Adding his voice to the criticism, Okupe described the former LP presidential candidate’s remark as an “insult” to people in the south-west.

He said Obi’s statement publicly brought down south-west people even though “eminent Yoruba people” supported him during his presidential bid in 2023.

“When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi.

“For the first time, Obasanjo left his circle of influence and deviated to support Obi,” Okupe said.

“I do not regret supporting Peter Obi. But now I cannot do it again. The reason why I did it was because we agreed that a southern president must emerge.

“I was approached that if a southern president must emerge, which zone must it come to? I said the south-east.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won all 18 chairmanship positions in the Cross River LG elections held on Saturday.

Ekong Boco, chairman of the Cross River State Electoral Commission (CRSEC) and the election’s returning officer, announced the results on Sunday at the commission’s headquarters in Calabar.

The APC won in Abi, Odukpani, Bakassi, Akpabuyo, Ogoja, Akamkpa, Bekwarra, Etung, Biase, Boki, Calabar Municipality, Obubra, Yakurr, Yala, Obanliku, Obudu, Ikom, and Calabar south LGAs.

The chairman of CRSEC issued certificates of return to the elected chairpersons.

Bassey Otu, the governor of Cross River, commended the winners, describing the elections as peaceful.

The governor expressed optimism that the new LG leaders would align with the state’s “people-first” agenda.

“We have a well-defined vision for the state, and we believe the new leadership at the local government level would understand that they must align with the state government’s agenda and exhibit unwavering dedication to realising good governance,” he said.

Nine opposition parties, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP), participated in the elections but did not field candidates across all 196 local council wards in the state’s 18 LGAs.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, says Betta Edu has now left the federal cabinet for good.

Edu was minister of humanitarian affairs.

Onanuga spoke on Sunday during an interview with Channels Television.

On January 8, Tinubu suspended Edu after a memo surfaced wherein she asked Oluwatoyin Madein, accountant-general of the federation, to transfer N585 million to a private account.

The president also asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate the financial transactions of the humanitarian ministry.

After she was suspended, the former minister was grilled at the EFCC headquarters in Abuja.

Subsequently, the president suspended all programmes administered by the National Social Investment Programmes Agency (NSIPA) for six weeks, as part of the probe into alleged malfeasance in the management of the agency and its activities.

In April, the EFCC said it recovered N30 billion following investigation into the ministry’s activities, adding that 50 bank accounts were under probe.

There were appeals from certain quarters for the president to reconsider and recall Edu.

Although Edu vanished from public glare, she sent a condolence message to victims of the Jos building collapse in July using the ministry’s letterhead.

Last Wednesday, the president named Nentawe Yilwatda as Edu’s replacement during a cabinet reshuffle.

‘SHE’S GONE’

Onanuga was asked if Edu remains a minister since she was only suspended by the president.

The presidential aide said Edu is no longer a minister and that her portfolio has been handed to someone else.

“Betta Edu is gone. She was suspended in January, and this is October. She is gone. Her position has been taken over by somebody else… that is the man from Plateau state (Yilwatda),” he said.

“As far as this government is concerned, there is no longer a place for her in that cabinet.”

Asked about the outcome of the investigation on Edu, Onanuga said the EFCC is yet to make the details public.

“The EFCC has not shared whatever they have, but if you go by what the president has done, it shows that maybe the EFCC has submitted something that actually justifies that suspension,” he added.

“If we follow what the president has done, it means EFCC has revealed something that has formed the basis of the president’s action.”