Labour Party is secret society, led by bunch of jokers – Kenneth Okonkwo

Actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo has lashed out at the Labour Party (LP) leadership in a new interview.

Mr Okonkwo defected to LP on 24 August 2022, one month after resigning from the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the party’s Muslim-Muslim Ticket.

The 55-year-old, at the time, said he joined LP to promote good governance and a new Nigeria.

However, during an interview on Symfoni TV posted on YouTube on 14 June, Mr Okonkwo, who served as the party’s presidential campaign spokesperson in the 2023 election, said the party has derailed from the new Nigeria path.

The award-winning actor also made some damning allegations against the party’s acclaimed National Chairman, Julius Abure, and his executives.

His remarks come amidst a leadership crisis within the party, exacerbated by controversies surrounding the March National Convention in Anambra State, which INEC disowned.

He said: “I am not aware that (Labour Party) held a national convention like I told you; thank God, you’re a journalist. You’re an investigative journalist. They did not even allow journalists to enter when they were conducting the convention. Journalists who investigated to uncover the truth were not even allowed to do so when holding the election.

“That is a secret society. The party executive is now in charge of a secret society. They should be apprehended for explaining what they did there. Party politics is supposed to be open and transparent. Everyone should be able to witness it. The world should see what you are doing. Let them (Julius Abure and his cohorts) come out and tell me what they did at that convention if it’s not a secret society.”

He called the party’s leaders jokers and claimed that any members who joined Mr Abure were part of a secret society.

Julius Abure

Furthermore, he stated that Mr Abure’s tenure as LP National Chairman has ended, and if INEC recognises him, it indicates the commission accepted a bribe.

“Section 82, subsection 5. Section 82 discusses conducting elections and the members of the political party voting. The Labour Party even mentioned delegates voting, which the constitution stipulates. However, instead of following this, you held a secret meeting and came up with a decision.

“If you bring back Abure ten times, his people will suspend him ten times. When they suspended him the first time, we fought and took the matter to the court of appeal. Before we even concluded the appeal, his state suspended him. If you bring him back now, the local government will suspend him. The other time, the ward suspended him because this man lacks integrity,” he noted.

He alleged that Mr Abure lacks support from his people due to his actions and inactions.

“They said Peter Obi went for the convention, but he said that he didn’t go there for endorsement, and Mr Aubrey people didn’t even allow him to leave the place before even telling the world he (Peter Obi) had endorsed them, which means someone is lying. Two people saying contradictory statements about an issue that happened can’t be proper at the same time. So I should believe Peter because when he was talking, he didn’t say he came to endorse them. I didn’t hear it, and that doesn’t mean I’m supporting him for going to the convention.

“Because the body language of a leader matters. It’s not right for him to attend the convention because they can say anything when he gets in there. After all, he was there. I would not have attended the convention if I were in his position. So, I do not support his (Peter Obi) attendance at the convention. That is to tell you Abure and his cohort have become pathological liars for saying Peter Obi endorsed them. What all these leaders need is divine deliverance; they can’t change.”

APC

The actor criticised his former party (APC), tagged them insensitive, and accused its leadership of depriving Nigeria of necessities. He stated he wouldn’t join a party that isn’t committed to the welfare of Nigerians.

“I don’t love going back to anything because change is constant. My own Labour Party is not impressing me. The party has allowed national greed to collapse about 100 times since it came into power in 2015, despite claiming it was a treasonable felony for national greed to collapse. When I joined the party in 2016, these issues were absent in Nigeria.

“I did not leave my comfort zone as the first actor in the first Nollywood movie to enter the murky waters of politics, which is now being devoured. The landmines of betrayal, the landmines of blood-sucking kingdoms that manifest as politicians, the landmines of blackmail, corruption, and incompetence—trying to say you will fight all these things,” he said.

He emphasised that he would only join political leaders with a vision for a new Nigeria.

“I have better things to fall back on. If I say I can no longer move forward without betraying the principle of a new Nigeria, I will step back. I started fighting for a new Nigeria before 2020. I withdrew each time I wanted to contest and found it against my conscience. I have not run for any election, but I have aspired. I don’t believe in joining corrupt leaders first to oppose them later.

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“So, after joining them to steal, you want to come out. Why do you think we don’t have good opposition in this country? Because once they speak out, their records are exposed, and they face legal consequences. The government has the right to prosecute anyone who commits a crime. Many who want to fight corruption may think they must join corrupt leaders first to gain power, but you cannot outsmart the devil.”

Mr Okonkwo, famous for his portrayal of Andy Okeke in ‘Living in Bondage,’ has starred in several films, including ‘The British Expert’, ‘Wives On Strike’, ‘The Revolution’, and ‘Amanda My Village Wife’.