The Labour Party has expressed deep sorrow over the loss of its former Director-General of the LP Presidential Campaign Council in the 2023 election, Dr Doyin Okupe, saying he would be sorely missed.
Okupe died in the early hours of Friday in Lagos at the age of 72 after battling a protracted illness.
In a condolence message issued in Abuja, the National Chairman of the party, Julius Abure, described Okupe as a great personality.
Abure recalled how the late Ogun State elder statesman initially acted as a placeholder for the party’s vice presidential nomination before ‘honourably’ relinquishing it with the knowledge that such a position would be allotted to the North.
He said, “Before joining Labour Party in 2022, Okupe had played key roles in Nigerian politics, having served as the National Publicity Secretary of the National Republican Convention. However, his active participation in LP’s push for the 2023 presidency clearly revealed his charisma and statesmanship.
“Although he resigned his membership of the party last year based on principles, his fraternity with the party didn’t cease, neither did he stop giving us invaluable advice. We cherished his short but impactful association with the party leadership great virtues we will be missing in him.
“Certainly, Nigeria has lost an astute politician whose desire for a great nation was unquestionable. We believe that though he still has so much to offer this nation, death has brutally forced him to write the last chapter of his life.”
![Rev. Fr. Anthony Odiong, a US-based Nigerian Louisiana Catholic priest, was arrested in Florida on Tuesday for possessing child pornography, according to law authorities. The suspect is reportedly accused of many other cases of sexual assault. The Waco, Texas, Police Department announced in a Facebook post on Tuesday that officers detained Father Anthony Odiong in Ave Maria, Florida, with assistance from the United States Marshals Service. Waco police announced in March that they had received "credible information" about a sexual assault allegedly committed by Odiong in Texas in 2012. “During the subsequent investigation, a case of possession of child pornography was uncovered,” the police said. The priest was apprehended in Florida by the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force. The Waco Police Department said that he will be extradited to Texas. Odiong had previously served in the Archdiocese of New Orleans before being removed as priest in December of last year due to controversy over homilies in which he claimed, among other things, that the Catholic Church was being taken over by "the gays." At the time, the priest was also accused of abusive behaviour; a Louisiana lady claimed in U.S. bankruptcy court that Odiong had committed both financial and sexual abuse against her. Prior to joining the New Orleans Archdiocese, Odiong served in at least two Texas parishes. On Tuesday, Waco police stated that during their sexual assault investigation, "the presence of other survivors was revealed." “Multiple women have come forward to tell similar experiences as the sexual assault survivor who reported the initial allegation,” the police department said. “Survivors’ experiences ranged from sexual assault and indecent assault, more commonly recognised as groping, and financial abuse, with some survivors experiencing every element of Anthony Odiong’s manipulation.” The police said they “believe there may be more survivors, and we wish to speak with anyone who [has] had similar encounters” with the priest. The Archdiocese of New Orleans issued a brief news release on Tuesday noting Odiong's arrest in Florida. The archdiocese “encourages anyone with any information to contact law enforcement,” the release said.](https://chronicle.ng/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/ezgif-6-4730550ede-450x300.jpg "Odiong: US-based Nigerian Catholic priest convicted over sexual assault")
