Kenneth Okonkwo, former spokesman for the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, has ended his political association with the party and its 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
In a statement released on his social media account on July 27, 2024, Okonkwo, a lawyer and seasoned Nollywood actor, cited persistent internal crises within the Labour Party and Obi’s failure to resolve them as reasons for his decision.
Okonkwo expressed a loss of confidence in Obi’s ability to restore unity and lead the party to victory in the upcoming general elections.
He criticised Obi for not leveraging his influence to address the party’s ongoing challenges since the 2023 elections.
Okonkwo concluded that Obi has demonstrated an inability to build a strong platform capable of challenging the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 elections.
“What is happening in the Labour Party today has inspired in me a determination to chart a new course for my political journey. After the 2023 general election, Nigerians, including me, had high hopes on the Labour Party. I believed that Peter Obi will seize the momentum and build a solid party of integrity that will have the solid base that we need to overthrow these kakistocrats and kleptocrats. He just needed to give the right directives and everyone will fall in line.
“I received my first shock when he publicly declared that he didn’t promise Nigerians to build a strong Labour Party, but to solve Nigeria’s problems. I was like, does it mean HE Peter Obi is not aware that without a solid party base, we are heading to nowhere politically?
“However, I continued in his defence believing he would still privately bring the needed solution to LP problems, to no avail,” he stated.
He added: “PO also publicly demanded that the Abure-led National Working Committee must organise an all-inclusive convention that will guarantee the participation of all members of the Labour Party in the choice of their leaders. This didn’t happen, and surprisingly, PO refused to disassociate himself from the shenanigans and criminal activities of the former NWC as their time had expired.
“Every member of the Labour Party is confused today as to the future of the Labour Party because of lack of leadership from PO over the party, and unfortunately, when they look up to me to tell them about PO’s standpoint, I sincerely have nothing to tell them because I don’t know myself. I cannot continue to speak on behalf of a leader that I do not know his stand on issues of great importance. I simply don’t know how to manipulate facts.
“I am shocked that PO could not openly support the noble efforts of the Labour Unions who founded the Labour Party as a base to fight for the welfare of workers to the extent that some of them are openly saying that PO is now the problem of LP. The Labour Unions now have the unfortunate situation where they are fighting criminals who want to hijack their party when an ordinary statement from the PO would have brought the solution. I cannot continue with this ambivalence forever.
“I am of course in full support of the Labour Unions and other stakeholders who are now compelled to fight for the soul of LP without the support of PO.
“However, the consequence is that I no longer have the confidence that PO has what it takes to build a party that can win these kakistocrats and kleptocrats, and above all, he has proved that even if the people vote for him, he doesn’t have what it takes to secure the mandate. I don’t intend to embark on such a campaign as we did in 2023, projecting a person who cannot sustain the victory even if he wins.
“It’s in this regard that I have decided to continue my political journey into the great Nigeria of our vision without Peter Obi. I am always 100% loyal to a leader whenever I am,” Okonkwo’s statement partly read.
