Kenneth Okonkwo Says Peter Obi Is Committing Political Suicide
Nollywood actor and lawyer Kenneth Okonkwo has fired back at suggestions that he betrayed Peter Obi and the Labour Party, insisting instead that the 2023 presidential candidate turned his back on him first.
Okonkwo, who served as the spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council during the last general election, didn’t mince words. He claims Obi’s choices after the election defeat have weakened his political future and destroyed the trust that once held them together.
The rift became public after Okonkwo resigned from the LP in February 2025, frustrated by the party’s leadership crisis and Obi’s handling of it. The actor-turned-politician says the betrayal started when Obi aligned himself with the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party, the same group Okonkwo warned him against.
In a recent interview with Symfoni TV that’s now making the rounds online, Okonkwo laid out his side of the story. He argued that no serious politician can claim they were betrayed if they understand the game of politics. In his words, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.”
Okonkwo didn’t stop there. He painted a picture of repeated private meetings where he cautioned Obi to steer clear of the Abure-led group, which he calls “undemocratic” and “agents of the government.” According to him, party executives lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had recognised their faction when, in fact, he believes their actions were illegal and unconstitutional.
In other news, iNaijanow recently shared a post on Peter Obi and ADC coalition, a new political front and old party crisis.
“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him,” he said. “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.”
Despite his warnings, Obi visited the Abure-led faction’s office and publicly endorsed them. Okonkwo said the moment stung deeply, especially when members of the faction sent him a video of the endorsement just to mock him.
His frustration didn’t end with the factional crisis. Okonkwo believes Obi has been hurting his own political relevance by making choices that contradict his message of integrity. He accused the former Anambra State governor of endorsing candidates from other political parties, even while his loyalists were begging for internal party support.
In his words, “Nobody is murdering Obi’s political career. Obi is committing political suicide. And I mean it.”
The rift exposes deeper cracks within the Labour Party, which rode a strong wave of youth support during the 2023 presidential elections but now struggles to stay united. For Okonkwo, the party’s internal crisis and Obi’s perceived indecisiveness sealed the fate of his involvement.
He claims Obi’s continued alliance with factions he once distanced himself from shows he’s a “politician of convenience, not conviction.” He added, “If you’re a leader in a party and you see that these people are criminals, you leave if you can’t solve the problem as a leader so your followers won’t be confused. You don’t wait until it’s close to the next election and then you have nothing to do about it.”
Despite the fallout, Peter Obi has mostly taken the high road publicly. He recently described Kenneth Okonkwo as a “beloved brother and trusted ally” and warned supporters not to paint him as a mole or traitor. But Okonkwo sees that as empty talk, given the choices he says Obi has made behind the scenes.
The drama reflects a bigger question ahead of 2027: Can Obi rebuild his base if he remains stuck in internal party squabbles? For Okonkwo, he believes that unless Obi breaks away from what he sees as the party’s “agents of the government,” his chances in the next election might become lean.
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