Kenneth Okonkwo quits Labour Party, slams Peter Obi for leadership failures

Kenneth Okonkwo, former spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Organisation, has officially left the party. Okonkwo, who transitioned from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Labour Party in 2022, has recently expressed significant dissatisfaction with the party’s national working committee (NWC) and its leadership.

In June 2024, Okonkwo sharply criticized the LP, describing it as “a secret society led by a group of clowns,” and hinted at the possibility of defecting. His criticisms were particularly aimed at the chairman of the party, Julius Abure, and the party’s presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi.

In a statement on his X handle, Okonkwo attributed his decision to leave the LP to Peter Obi’s failure to address the party’s leadership crisis and build a strong party foundation.

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He stated, “He (Peter Obi) 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.”

Okonkwo expressed disappointment in Obi’s lack of action, despite public and private expectations for him to resolve the LP’s issues.

He highlighted Obi’s failure to demand an all-inclusive convention from the Abure-led NWC and his refusal to disassociate from the former NWC’s activities.

“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,” Okonkwo said.

He concluded by stating his inability to continue representing a leader whose stance on critical issues remains unclear.

“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,” he remarked.

Proofreading, editing by Sakinat Musa Abubakar and Maryam Sulaiman,  Editor and Journalist at Neptune Prime.

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