- Okonkwo had in June cut ties with Peter Obi, LP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 elections.
- The actor-turned-lawyer said the LP, as presently constituted, is now a “housemaid” to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Kenneth Okonkwo, former Labour Party presidential campaign spokesperson in the 2023 elections, says he’ll reevaluate his affiliation with the party if Julius Abure remains chairman.
Recall that Oluchi Oparah, the party’s national treasurer, accused Abure of mismanaging N3.5 billion in February.
Abure denied the allegations and threatened to sue Oparah.
A high court in Abuja issued an order in April 2023, restraining Abure from claiming the chairmanship.
The court also barred other national officers from taking their positions.
Nenadi Usman was appointed to lead a 29-member caretaker committee after Alex Otti convened a stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia.
On Tuesday, a federal high court validated Abure’s leadership and ordered INEC to recognize him as chairman — the caretaker committee has said it will appeal the verdict.
Okonkwo stated on Arise Television that Abure wasn’t elected by the labour party members.”
“Well, first of all, I said this before and I’m saying it again, I have no business with any Abure-led Labour Party. So, that is settled,” Okonkwo said.
“At any point in time it is decided that Abure is the chairman of the Labour Party, that ends it for me (and) for the Labour Party.
“Because we set out saying we would destroy the structure of criminality and that agenda has not been removed.
“It’s important to note that before Abure went to court, INEC has rejected him. The elected members rejected him, members of Labour Party did not vote for him.
“By his own admission, you can recall that Abure said he came out unopposed. Abure said everybody in that NWC came out unopposed. So that’s an admission that no single member of Labour Party voted for them.
“So you cannot sit down in your house or the backyard of any place and call yourself any name and you expect people to agree.”
The actor turned politician criticized Abure’s leadership style as “transactional politics” and claimed the Labour Party now serves the All Progressive Congress.
“The Labour Party’s 2027 presidential candidate will be chosen by the APC,” Okonkwo said.
He questioned Abure’s legitimacy, citing INEC’s rejection.
“In a nation like Nigeria, where the ruling party is looking for any way to make sure they compromise the opposition, you do not have the leisure of time,” he said.
“I can tell you that Labour Party as presently constituted is now a housemaid to APC. The 2027 presidential candidate of the Labour Party will be decided on the table of APC.
“We know their moves. They are meeting the people now who help people to win cases in court.
“Because if nobody from your party is supporting you, then who are you now trying to become a chairman to?”
Okonkwo narrated how Abure withdrew tickets reserved for Obi and Otti.
“Remember, when Abure went to Nnewi to do the illegal election, in my own view (because) the supreme court has not ruled. He said the ticket is reserved for Peter Obi,” he said.
“I said in this programme back then that this is bribery; that he wants to use it to make Peter Obi to close his eyes on the illegality they’re doing.
“When their tenure ended, it was not even Peter Obi that said their tenure has ended. It was INEC, and they were disgraced out.
“That comes to the culpability of INEC; if INEC said their tenure has ended, why did they not accept the caretaker committee?
“Now, when Peter Obi went to Umuahia to do the right thing, what did Abure say? No, the ticket is no longer reserved.
“What does that tell you? These are transactional politicians who have no policy, who have no principle, but what they are doing there is to trade.
“He said, Otti, we don’t have ticket for you. Who do you think they are reserving the ticket for? Let me give you a poser.
“The deputy speaker of the national assembly told Otti, look, I would not sit down as a man of the ruling party and allow the opposition to govern Abia state.
“And then there is an Abure that is saying that ticket is no longer reserved for you and they are winning cases in court.
“The witch cried in the night and the baby died in the day. What do you think is happening? It’s not an indictment, he said it openly but I can see the nexus.
“Every ticket in the Labour Party is reserved for APC people and I have told you about the nexus. It’s not by accident.”
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