By Milcah Tanimu
Kenneth Okonkwo, a prominent figure in the Labour Party (LP), has expressed his dissatisfaction with recent developments within the party.
Okonkwo, who served as a presidential campaign spokesperson for the LP during the 2023 election, characterized the party as “a secret society led by a group of clowns.” He criticized the party’s lack of integrity and its inability to capitalize on internal crises within other parties.
The LP has been mired in a leadership crisis since Lamidi Apapa, the deputy national chairman (south), declared himself the acting national chairman last year. The situation worsened in 2024 when a national convention in Anambra re-elected Julius Abure as chairman, despite opposition from a faction within the party. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) stated it did not monitor the convention, and the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) denounced it as a charade, asserting that Abure’s tenure had ended.
In an interview, Okonkwo did not rule out the possibility of leaving the LP if the party continues on its current path. “Any party that is not visibly committed to the welfare of Nigerians will most likely not see me there. I don’t rule out going back to anything because change is constant,” he stated.
Okonkwo expressed disbelief over the party’s handling of the convention, noting that he only learned about it through social media. “Those people are clowns. It is the greatest joke I have ever seen in a political party, and then you want to position yourself as a party of integrity. You cannot give what you don’t have,” he said. He called for Abure and his supporters to step down, describing them as “workers of iniquity.”
Kenneth Okonkwo, a Nollywood actor turned politician, left the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2022 due to the party’s decision to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket for the 2023 presidential election. He subsequently joined the LP, pledging to support the presidential bid of Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra.
