Nollywood actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo has severed ties with the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
The declaration was made by Okonkwo in a recent statement, an LP spokesperson during the presidential campaign council for the 2023 elections.
Okonkwo had resigned from the ruling APC on August 24, 2022, over the controversial Muslim-Muslim ticket of the party and defected to the Labour Party. The 55-year-old actor said at the time he was joining the LP to create an enabling environment for good governance, and his contribution toward a new Nigeria.
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He, however, no longer believes that Peter Obi has what it takes to build such a party that will be able to surmount the challenges of the kakistocrats and kleptocrats in the country. He stressed that what is needed at this time is an extremely strong and strong-willed leader who is unselfish enough to secure victory and has the integrity, charisma, and courage to mobilize people for the sustenance of such victory.
Despite his departure from the LP, Okonkwo maintains that he must press on in his vision of a greater Nigeria founded on equity, justice, and fairness.
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Of recent interest have been his (various) criticisms of the national working committee of the LP, chaired by Julius Abure. In June 2024, he referred to the LP as “a secret society led by clowns,” pointing out that he may have finally had enough of the party.
In a statement on his X handle, he said on Saturday that recent happenings within the LP had given him an inspiration to chart a new course for his political journey.
“I have decided to continue the political journey into the great Nigeria of our vision without Peter Obi. I am always 100% loyal to a leader wherever I am working or following the leader. At any time I have doubts and can no longer offer 100% loyalty to him, I will respectfully let him know.”
Okonkwo explained further that he could no longer assure his commitment to Obi’s future ambition and needed to make his decision known to the public.
He declared publicly his intention to go back for consultations and negotiations with like-minded people on what will be the next step in this journey. Noticeably, he said it is not going to be joining APC or PDP for now but consolidating Labour Party.
“We need to have a solid political party with a grassroots base to be able to wrestle power from these kakistocrats and kleptocrats.
We, therefore, need a leader who will be in a position to build such a party of integrity and character from the grassroots, because after all, the majority of people that would populate a government proceed from the political party of the leader,” Okonkwo concluded.
