Veteran Nollywood actor and former spokesperson for the Labour Party (LP) Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has publicly accused Peter Obi of betrayal amid the ongoing crisis rocking the party.
In a trending interview with Symfoni released on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the LP in February 2025, revealed that Obi turned his back on advice not to align with the Julius Abure-led faction of the party. He described Obi’s action as a personal betrayal.
“Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me,” Okonkwo stated.
The actor-turned-politician claimed that Obi was misled by LP executives who falsely assured him that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had recognised their faction. Despite warning Obi against associating with the group, Okonkwo said the former presidential candidate went ahead to support them.
“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that INEC had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them,” he said. “But I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity… If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”
Okonkwo disclosed that he had several private conversations with Obi, warning him about the undemocratic nature of the Abure faction, which he described as “agents in the hands of the government.”
“I told Obi that what they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional. I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him,” he explained.
He also said he informed Obi’s inner circle of his decision not to support any move that would see the former Anambra governor realign with the embattled faction.
According to Okonkwo, Obi’s eventual public endorsement of the Abure group shocked him, especially when members of the faction mocked him by sending a video of the visit.
“One of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them,” he revealed.
Okonkwo further alleged that it was only after INEC distanced itself from the Abure-led group that Obi began acting neutral.
“But I told him he could not be neutral, and something had to be done,” he concluded.
What you should know
Kenneth Okonkwo, who recently left the Labour Party, claims Peter Obi betrayed him by supporting a faction he had advised against. He warned that the move could damage Obi’s integrity and political future, especially as INEC later distanced itself from the controversial faction.
