Labour Party sacks Okupe, 10 others over ‘constitutional breach’

The Labour Party (LP) in Ogun State has sacked the Director-General of the party’s presidential campaign council (PCC), Doyin Okupe, and 10 for allegedly not paying membership fees, high-handedness and financial recklessness.

The State Chairman of the party in the state, Michael Ashade, announced this at a press conference in Abeokuta on Thursday.

Flanked at the event by the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Abayomi Arabambi, and the State Secretary, Feyisola Michael, Mr Ashade said Mr Okupe ceased to be a member of the party after his failure to fulfil his membership status.

He said Mr Okupe failed to pay his membership dues in the last six months since he joined the party.

Also, he said having forfeited his membership of the party, Mr Okupe can no longer continue to act as the DG of the party’s PCC.

According to Mr Ashade, Mr Okupe and the 10 others have contravened Article 9(3) sub(iii) and Article 9(3)xi of the LP constitution and thereby ceased to be party members.

“With his crops of PDP dissidents political liabilities who are only using Labour Party to revive their not only irredeemable dead political and financial lives but has successfully stolen all that is available in LP.

“Therefore, in line with Article 19(3) of the Labour Party constitutional provision, we declare that Dr. Doyin Okupe, having failed in the payment of his membership dues for the last six months of joining the Party, has forfeited his membership of the Party and no longer fit and competent to continue to act as the DG of the Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

“We, hereby, notify our National Chairman Bar Julius ABURE and Labour Party Presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Obi, that it’s expedient to obey the constitution of Labour party by immediately appoint another DG for the PCC and that should come from the North to reflect Federal Characters and political Ballance.

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“We challenge Dr. Doyin Okupe to provide evidence of any payment in respect of membership dues prior to today into any bank account of the Party.”

Corroborating, the state Chairman, Mr Arabambi, asked the LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to stop relating with Okupe as the PCC DG.

He said the party would enforce the dismissal of Mr Okupe and others by all lawful means.

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Mr Okupe neither picked calls made by this reporter to his known phone number nor respond to text message seeking his reaction to the development.