A former spokesperson of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign council, Kenneth Okonkwo has announced his resignation from the party, citing internal leadership crises and a lack of direction.
Okonkwo, who played a key role in the LP’s 2023 presidential campaign, said his decision was driven by the party’s failure to uphold good governance, which was his primary motivation for joining politics.
“My entrance to politics is for good governance, and I will continue to work for it to ensure that Nigeria becomes a great country of incorruptible men. This aim can no longer be realised within Labour Party as presently constituted,” Okonkwo said in a statement.
The Nollywood actor-turned politician declared that the LP, in its current state was “non-existent” and could no longer serve the interests of Nigerians.
“Since the party is non-existent as presently constituted, I am constrained to resign my membership of the party to all Nigerians of goodwill who supported us when we needed them most, and to pledge my continued loyalty to the Nigerian people in all I will decide to do in my political future,” he added.
Okonkwo’s resignation will take effect from February 25, 2025 which is the second anniversary of the 2023 presidential election.
He stated that after that date, he would be free to align with like-minded individuals in pursuit of good governance.
“This resignation takes effect from the 25th of February, 2025, which marks the second anniversary of the presidential election of 2023, after which I will be at liberty to join other well-meaning and like-minded Nigerians in charting a great future of good governance for this great country blessed by God,” he said.
LEADERSHIP reports that Okonkwo’s departure is the latest in a series of crises that have rocked the Labour Party in recent times. He criticised the party’s national chairman, Julius Abure, accusing him of prioritising personal interests over the party’s survival.
According to Okonkwo, the LP’s leadership tenure expired long ago, adding that attempts to salvage the party through a caretaker committee have been hindered by litigation.
His dissatisfaction with the party was not new. In June 2024, he had described the LP as “a secret society led by a group of clowns.”
Speaking in an interview on ‘Symfoni’, a news platform, Okonkwo warned that he would consider joining another political party if the LP failed to hold an acceptable national convention.
His criticism extended to Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election. In July 2024, Okonkwo said he had lost confidence in Obi’s ability to build a party capable of winning elections.
“He has proved that even if the people vote for him, he does not have what it takes to secure the mandate,” Okonkwo said.
Recall that Okonkwo, initially defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to LP in 2022 but the LP has been embroiled in leadership crises since April 2023, when Lamidi Apapa, the deputy national chairman (South) of the party declared himself as the acting national chairman.
The situation worsened in 2024 when a national convention in Anambra saw Abure re-elected as chairman, despite opposition from a faction within the party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later revealed that it did not monitor the convention.
The party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) dismissed the convention as a “charade” and insisted that Abure’s tenure had expired. In February 2024, LP’s national treasurer, Oluchi Oparah, accused Abure of misappropriating ₦3.5 billion, a claim Abure denied, threatening legal action in response.
The crisis escalated further in April when an FCT High Court issued an order restraining Abure from parading himself as LP’s national chairman.
The ruling also barred other key party officials, including the national secretary and national organising secretary from acting in their positions.
In September 2024, Esther Nenadi Usman, a former senator from Kaduna South was appointed chair of a 29-member caretaker committee after Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, convened a stakeholders’ meeting in Umuahia. The meeting was attended by Obi and his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed.
INEC subsequently invalidated Abure’s leadership, stating that the party’s national convention violated both its constitution and the Electoral Act. The electoral body insisted that Abure’s tenure as LP chairman had expired in June 2024.
However, on October 8, 2024, a Federal High Court ruled in favour of Abure, affirming his leadership and the legitimacy of the March 2024 Nnewi Convention that produced the current party executives.
In a legal twist, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reaffirmed Abure’s chairmanship on January 17, 2025, declaring that its earlier ruling from November 2024 which recognised Abure’s leadership remained valid.
The court, led by Justice Hamma Barka, voided the Federal High Court’s October ruling on the grounds that the lower court lacked jurisdiction.
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