Kenneth Okonkwo, a member of the Labour Party and one of the lawyers of the party’s standard bearer in the 2023 presidential poll, Peter Obi, at the election tribunal, has described the latter as a spineless leader who stands for nothing noble and also refused to disassociate from criminals in the party.
Mr Okonkwo expressed his frustrations in a letter he posted on X on Sunday, announcing his exit from Mr Obi’s camp.
“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. I was like, does it mean HE Peter Obi is not aware that without a solid party base, we are heading to nowhere politically? However, I continued in his defence believing he will still privately bring the needed solution to LP problems, to no avail.
“PO also publicly demanded that the Abure- led National Working Committee must organise an all inclusive convention that will guarantee the participation of all members of the Labour Party in the choice of their leaders. This didn’t happen, and surprisingly, PO refused to disassociate himself from the shenanigans and criminal activities of the former NWC as their time has expired,” Mr Okonkwo said.
Berating Mr Obi as a weak leader who does not take a stand on important issues, Mr Okonkwo said, “Every member of Labour Party is confused today as to the future of 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. 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 said he was shocked that Mr Obi couldn’t openly support the noble efforts of the labour unions who founded the Labour Party as a base to fight for the welfare of workers to the extent that some of them were openly saying that Mr Obi was now the problem of LP.
He stated, “The labour unions now have the unfortunate situation where they are fighting criminals who want to hijack their party when an ordinary statement from PO would have brought the solution. I cannot continue with this ambivalence forever.
I am always 100% loyal to a leader whenever I am working or following the leader. At anytime I have doubts within me that I can no longer offer 100% loyalty to him, I will respectfully let everyone know. When I joined myself to his campaign, I made it public, now that I cannot guarantee my support for his future political aspirations, I believe I owe it to everyone to let everyone know.’’
He added that there was absolutely nothing personal with his decision to adjust his relationship with Mr Obi. He noted,” It’s 100% based on principles and my conviction that I need a more decisive, bold, brave leader with integrity and team spirit who can confront these kakistocrats and kleptocrats head on. I will continue to respect him and cherish the periods we worked together.’’
Mr Obi has yet to respond to Mr Okonkwo’s statement as of the time this report was filed. But when contacted by Peoples Gazette, his spokesperson, Tanko Yunusa, said, “I’ve not seen the letter. I cannot comment now.”
