Veteran Nollywood actor and former spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has publicly accused former presidential candidate Peter Obi of betraying him. The claim comes amid ongoing internal disputes within the Labour Party, which has been embroiled in a protracted leadership struggle.
In a widely circulated interview with Symfoni that gained traction on Saturday, Okonkwo, who formally left the Labour Party in February 2025, disclosed that Obi ignored his counsel and returned to support the controversial Julius Abure-led faction of the party. This faction has been accused of anti-democratic practices and financial mismanagement.
Okonkwo explained that Obi was misled by party executives who falsely assured him that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) recognized the Abure faction. He stated, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.”
He further elaborated, “The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”
Despite Okonkwo’s private warnings that the Abure faction were “agents of the government” bent on destabilizing Obi, the former presidential candidate publicly endorsed the faction. Okonkwo revealed that he warned Obi, “I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.”
Following this, Okonkwo informed other inner-circle members of Obi’s intentions and made it clear he would not follow Obi back to the Abure faction. “I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words,” he said.
Within 72 hours, Obi reportedly visited Abure’s office and publicly endorsed the faction. Okonkwo recounted, “While he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission later distanced itself from the Abure faction, prompting Obi to adopt a neutral stance. Okonkwo, however, insisted, “I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done.”
The Labour Party continues to grapple with factional disputes, with the Abure-led group facing allegations that contradict the party’s reformist image. Okonkwo, a known advocate of Obi’s political ideals, cited these issues as his reason for leaving the party earlier this year.
