Doyin Okupe, a former director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign, says Nigerians should not be quick to judge the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

In an interview on Friday on Channels’ Politics Today, Okupe advised Nigerians to resist the urge to criticise Tinubu’s administration like the previous governments.

He said the president inherited a bad economy, adding that the former governor of Lagos came to the helm of affairs during an “abnormal situation.”

“You can never and should never judge this administration like you judged other administrations. Because this is an abnormal situation in which this administration came to life,” Okupe said.

“After such a prostrate economy for eight years, the government and governance were abandoned. Things became so bad. That was the point at which this administration came in. People are forgetting.”

Okupe said Tinubu was a better candidate than Peter Obi of the LP and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 presidential election.

“I will remember my tweet. On the 21st of March, 2022, I was an aspirant for the presidential election under the PDP. I said if Bola Tinubu wins the primary for APC, he would do well,” he said.

“He has come to the government at a difficult time. This is a very bad time for anybody to come and administer this administration. Of all the people who ran for president in 2023, by the benefit of hindsight, Bola Tinubu is the best.

“I think if this country would give this gentleman some time, you cannot judge this administration just after one year in office.”

Okupe resigned from LP in January, citing “ideological grounds” as the reason for his departure from the party.

The leadership of the Labour Party (LP) says it has renamed the “Obidient directorate” to the directorate of mobilisation and integration.

The “Obidient movement” originated in 2022 following the huge social media popularity of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the LP.

On May 30, the LP announced the appointment of Marcel Ngogbehei as the leader of the ”Obidient movement” and seven other officials to administer the affairs of its newly created directorate.

The appointment came two weeks after the Julius Abure-led national working committee announced the creation of a separate directorate dedicated to the affairs of the “Obidient movement” at a press conference.

On Wednesday, Obi said the movement is not a directorate of any political party.

Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Obiora Ifoh, national publicity secretary of the Labour Party, said the party decided to rename the directorate following criticisms from some stakeholders.

“Following the controversies arising from the creation of the Directorate of OBIDIENT Affairs, in the party, the Directorate is hereby renamed the Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration,” the statement reads.

The LP national publicity secretary added that the inauguration of the directorate will take place on June 8 at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

“The inauguration will take place on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the party’s National Secretariat, Utako, Abuja, by 10 a.m. Party members and the general public should take note.”

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) says it is not in merger or amalgamation talks with any political party or interest.

The party’s National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, disclosed this in a statement issued after the party’s NWC 587th meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Olugunagba said that while PDP was open to all Nigerians, including its former members who left for other parties, the party remained strong and formidable.

According to him, the party is capable of winning elections in a free, fair and transparent electoral process in Nigeria.

“The NWC acknowledges the influx of millions of Nigerians into our party in the ongoing party membership drive in all the electoral wards across the country.

“This further confirms that the PDP remains the party of choice for the majority of Nigerians.

“The public, teeming members of PDP and course, the international community should therefore, disregard any report suggesting any form of merger between the PDP and any other political party, as such is not in the contemplation of our great party,” he said.