Kenneth Okonkwo, a former confidante of Peter Obi, has described the ex-Anambra state governor as a leader without any political conviction and mingling with ‘criminal’ Labour Party factional chairman, Julius Abure, amid ongoing power instability within the party.

Mr Okonkwo, who was Labour Party’s presidential campaign spokesperson before his resignation earlier this year, made the allegations in an interview with media outlet, Symfoni, accusing Mr Obi of backing criminals to hijack control of the party rather than simply leaving.

“If you are a leader and you are in such a party, you have several options knowing fully well that they are criminals (Abure’s faction) that you want to paint them now,” Mr Okonkwo said. “You either leave the party if you cannot solve the problem so that your followers are not confused.

Mr Okonkwo noted that the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 presidential election secretly worked with Mr Abure’s faction to choose the party’s candidates in the Imo, Edo and Ondo governorship elections, while distancing himself from them in order to be perceived as innocent in public.

“In all the primary elections the Abure faction organised, none was done without Mr Obi’s approval, whether it was Imo, Edo, Ondo and now in Anambra. He campaigned for all the candidates,” Mr Okonkwo said. 

Furthermore, the former Nollywood actor tagged Mr Obi as being a politician of ‘convenience’, noting that he pleaded with him on multiple occasions to take a stand and stand by it as a strong leader would do. However, Mr Obi refused, prompting his resignation from the Labour Party.

He added, “You are in cahoots with them in private but you want to paint another image in public. He is just being a politician of convenience and not a politician of conviction.”