National Telescope national telescope newspaper
Former spokesman for the Labour Party presidential campaign council, Kenneth Okonkwo in this interview with Constance Ikokwu on Arise News speaks on his controversial defection from the party, and leadership tussle, among other issues. ODEKOLA DEBORAH brings excerpts
You dumped the Labour Party a few days ago, how do you feel about your exit?
First of all, let me say that I am embarrassed by your comment. I just heard from your media station that I dumped the Labour Party. I put up my statement so that it would not be misconstrued. Where did you get that from? Certainly, it is not from the statement that I made.
So you have not left the Labour Party?
I am a privileged member of the Labour Party. Where did you get it from?
So there is no crisis in the Labour Party as it relates to you?
None. There is a crisis in the Labour Party as it relates to the NWC which failed to organise an all-inclusive convention, and I thought that the leader ought to have taken the decisive decision to ensure that having said that the convention should not hold and they held it against instructions. I felt he should have come out.
Against whose instructions?
Against Obi’s instructions. He publicly declared that the convention should not be held. Aburi you have to organise an all-inclusive convention in line with the agreement you made in the past, and agreement with the judgment of the court. Abure failed. Then Peter Obi would have gone further to ensure that Peter Obi dealt with Abure’s issue having disobeyed him. And then, he didn’t and that was why the crisis continued. What I said in my statement was that I am a Labour Party member and I am going to consolidate the Labour Party and I am going to join all the stakeholders that are progressive in mind with the NLC and the National Transition Committee which was set up to organise an all-inclusive National Convention. This is what I said in my statement. So where did you get that from?
So, what’s the current state of the Labour Party?
The current state of the Labour Party is that there is no National Working Committee. The National Executive Committee, and all the organs of the party, especially the critical stakeholder, which is NLC. Because the Labour Party is the party for the Nigerian workers. They founded the Labour Party. Yes. So the current situation now, is that Labour Party is moving on, to organise an all-inclusive convention, which will be led by the stakeholders, and the NEC-appointed officers of the party who will organise it.
In the media, on the 28th of July, there were stories that you left the party. So you are telling us that you are still a full-fledged member of the party.
I am telling you that it is fake news. That is the whole idea of my uploading my statement on social media. That was why I am asking you, where did you get it from? Because the whole idea of uploading it is so that everybody can read it. Is it true that when you want to hide anything from a Nigerian, you put it in a book? No, Arise should have done better. I heard it in Arise News and I was embarrassed. So Arise News can do well by retracting it.
So your statement is on the web and the news story precedes the statement here, and that is where the information comes from. And so you are clarifying again, that you are going to work with the Labour Party?
Yes, to consolidate it.
Some people described you as a mole in the party. And Mr Peter Obi came out with a statement requesting that no one should see you in that light, because both of you are still comrades and brothers. How do you react to that?
Good. Well, I read the mole story by one Obiora, we call him Obiora the dollad, because he purports to be the policy secretary. And have you seen him do interviews, going to represent the Labour Party? Even when the Apapa group was assaulting the Labour Party, the same Obiora and Aburi were sending me to fight on their behalf. And the same Obiora, the dollad, had the effrontery to go to social media, to say Kenneth Okonkwo is a mole. I don’t blame him with his bad English. I remember one event when we were on the presidential legal team. That Obiora with his monkey suit, would come and sit where Peter Obi was sitting. And after the event, they would ask him, well, what minutes did you take? Only to discover that he couldn’t even take the minutes. And I remember Peter Obi warned me that I don’t want to see this kind of people around me. So can you imagine such a person, who cannot even defend the Labour Party, calling Kennedy Okonkwo a mole? That is ridiculous. But I did say that I and Peter Obi have different approaches and different styles of doing things. Our temperaments are different. Peter Obi is a very sweet man and he loves to appear sweet to everybody. And I have always warned my younger ones, do not be too bitter so that they will not spit you out but don’t be too sweet so that they don’t lick you up. So when Peter Obi wants to be sweet to everybody, that is why they are licking him up. I don’t have that kind of temperament. A Peter Obi temperament is, My brother Ken, what you are saying is true. But let us take it easy. But Kennedy Okonkwo’s temperament is different. So you see, there is a difference in temperament.
You are disappointed with the party and the way things are going. Do you still see Mr Peter Obi as the leader of the party? Do you still see him as having the capability to help the party build the momentum it had last year up until 2027?
That is what I would have loved him to do. I would have loved the ‘Obidients’, to be integrated into the party to solidify it. But he doesn’t believe in that. He said ‘Obidients’ are not members of the Labour Party. In Nigeria, and 2027, you are going to face an incumbent. You need a broad-based, powerful political party so that even when you win, you will be able to sustain your votes. I give you an example. When APC saw the majesty of PDP, and saw that even as PDP is dysfunctional and bad, they knew that they needed a very powerful platform to win. Five entities had to come together, sacrificially. And I am talking about the new PDP, ANPP, ACN, half-faction of APGA, and CPC. They had to come together, sacrificially, to form a powerful alliance to overthrow an incumbent. Because in Nigeria, make no mistake about it, these people will rig election. And so it is not just about winning but you have to secure your votes. So I believe that you have to build a strong political party. But he said, in his own belief, he did not promise Nigerians to build a strong political party that promised Nigerians to solve Nigeria’s problems. And I am like, you cannot go to solving Nigeria’s problems without building a solid political party.
What if members of the ‘Obidient’ Movement would like to join the Labour Party to build this foundational strong party that you are talking about?
Absolutely. That’s what I’m saying. That is what should be done. You cannot leave obedient to be metamorphosed.
So is Mr Obi giving Obedients a direction that they must not join the party?
No, his instruction is that the Obedient Movement is not a political party. And they are not all members of the Labour Party. And my advice is that when we finish the election, let us integrate everybody to come into and solidify the Labour Party. So that we will be a formidable force.
So with this internal crisis, this discord, this disagreement, you are parting ways in terms of the way forward with Mr Peter Obi. Why are you still in the Labour Party? Because it doesn’t seem like you will be able to get this together. Why are you still there? Will you be able to get what you want?
First and foremost, I do not have any personal grievances or problems with my brother. I love him and I cherish him. You know what? I have never disagreed with him on anything personal. Do you know why? I have never made any personal request from him. And you know what? Since I was born, I have never lobbied for any political post. And I have never asked for any political money. When I was in APC, I was sponsoring APC. I was giving them money. I never asked for any political position. When I was in APC, I got a secretariat for them, for my ward. I got a secretariat for them, for my local government. And I was sponsoring it throughout my career at APC. So when some dimwits begin to say, is he going back to APC because of money? No, I give money, I don’t take money. Because my God said, you are more blessed when you give than when you receive. Because my entrance into politics is for the welfare of Nigerians, I spend for political parties and I demand nothing from them. The same thing happened in PDP when I was in PDP. So it is ridiculous for somebody to say that I want to go back to APC. Go back to APC to look for whom? You know my brother Area’s Father said both of them are snipers and not Otapiapia. And I agree. How can you talk about a party that has inflicted and afflicted Nigeria with so much trouble? And somebody is contemplating on going back to APC, to look for whom?
Is the Labour Party finished as it is today?
Labour Party is just beginning. It will be consolidated. You know what, The Labour Party is the party of the Nigerian workers; the NLC and the TUC. Do you think you can defeat them in their party?
So how is that not going to happen? It looks like they have fought.
Peter Obi is an aspirant for political office. It has nothing to do with the political party. Now, if he says he does not believe in a strong political party, it is left for the officers of the party to work hard to consolidate the party. Then by 2027, if he wants to use the party as a platform, he can come in as an aspirant and contest for the presidential candidate. And if he wins, he wins.
But you know that without the Obidient Movement, and other young Nigerians who are looking for a platform to use in the 2023 election, the Labour Party was dead. So if the Obidient Movement decides to leave the Labour Party. What is next, the momentum is dead.
First and foremost, I want to agree with you and that my stand is that all of us should come together and build a strong party. The Obedient should move into the Labour Party and fortify it and then we should look for alliances with other people that have the same objectives as us and consolidate it so that we will have a consolidated fortune. That is the way you can win elections in Nigeria.
There was a time when you would be conscious about the merger. Where are we on that?
If you have a strong political base, there is nothing wrong with merging.
So there is no merger going on with the Labour Party saying there are no talks anymore?
This is democracy. Talks will continue but who will want to talk with you when they don’t know who your leadership is? That is why we have to decisively and quickly organise ourselves in Labour Party so that our executives will be known. Look at the disgrace that INEC just threw away Abure the other time, because they insulted INEC. As busy as INEC is, within one month or thereabout, you changed your venues three times, denying them of the notice from Umuahia to Edo, Asaba, Ukwa, and Nnewi and you aid you conducted. That is an insult to INEC. So when Abure went to the INEC, when the distinguished party members were meeting, he wanted to take a clash there. They did not invite him. They threw him out. So is that the kind of disgrace that we want to contain? And I wanted and expected my principal Peter Obi to have taken that action so that we would not be subjected to that ridicule and that disgrace. And it was not happening. And so I believe that he is not as decisive as a man who wants to fight these kleptomaniacs.
So if you want to fight these people, you don’t have to be too sweet. Because they will steal your mandate. And you have to fight for your mandate. People who steal the mandate, if they have the zeal to fight for it, you know, you must have equal and superior zeal to snatch your mandate at all cost. If you don’t want to fight step down. You know what I want? Tinubu, Atiku, Peter Obi should step aside. We need new people who will take over this mandate. If you don’t want to fight these thieves, then you step aside. The time for calm down is over.
When you look and the political landscape and what is happening, 2027 is by the corner.
That is exactly why I am crying and screaming.
You can calm down, you don’t need to scream. Do you see anybody whether it is within the Labour Party or outside the Labour Party that can help young people and the Movement get to their destination?
That is why in my opinion, if we create the impression that there is no vacancy we will have a thing but when we create the impression that look Labour Party is for every Nigerian you know leadership evolves. Some people can start evolving and we will choose who will win and not only win but fight this thief. Why do I say I don’t want to speak anymore, I heard some people saying I am trying to push Peter Obi to violence. Far from it. Martin Luther King got what he wanted even after his death. Was he violent? I am talking about resistance. I am talking about protest. And I am knowledgeable enough to know that there is a difference between resistance and rioting, protest and violence. I support resistance. I support the protest. I do not support violence. I do not support rioting. Let me tell you when I was at the university. Because we protested from the first year to the final year. That is why in my final year at the University of Nigeria, we graduated by November. Because of the protest, we ought to have graduated by June. And we went to NYSC by the second batch. The whole University of Nigeria. When we riot, we destroy our property. When we destroyed our property, the government would not come to fix it, so, we said enough is enough. Nobody should destroy our property because we will be destroying our welfare. We are not made up of our minds. No more destruction of properties. So I am appealing to Nigerians that protest is good. But when you destroy your property, it is going to affect your welfare. During the #EndSARS protest, I felt so bad when all those buses were bombed because it is still the common man that is going to be affected. So they should do a targeted thing. Do you know why? If there is going to be pain, let the pain go around. Resistance means finding a way of inflicting pain on your opponent. And I give you an example. When Martin Luther King was alive, the blacks were subjected to the humiliation that no matter how small a white man is, a black person must stand up for the white man. Do you know what Martin Luther did? He boycotted all the transportation systems and decided to trek to the office. And you know what? After a while, the whole transportation system collapsed. The pain has to go round. We must have to make sure without violence to make sure that we inflict pain on the people who inflict pain on us. That is my temperament but that is not the temperament of my boss. And that is why I say, I will not speak for him anymore. So that people will not misinterpret me and that I am pushing him to do what is not in his nature. His nature is calm down.
You said that votes are usually stolen and that the judiciary will not and cannot give Nigerians democracy. And so they should fight for it. But when you said they should fight for it, it is still the same process. They go out and vote. And if there are issues, the judiciary still has to adjudicate on those issues. Is there a way out?
Good. That is why I said in my own opinion, respectfully, that Obi does not have what it takes to go through another round. because that round can never achieve resolve. Electoral jurisprudence in Nigeria is overthrown. It is dead. We are graduating from frying pan to fires. Look at what happened in Kogi. From what happened in the 2023 presidential election. I told people the judiciary had just destroyed this Electoral Act 2022 when they made that statement that it is discretionary for INEC to electronically transmit, that was what destroyed the Electoral Act 2022. And then politicians can now pre-write results. That is what they call pre-fill results. And then they can announce it and there is nothing you can do. It happened in Kogi and Imo. And the court will still say, yes, you cannot prove it. So, electoral jurisprudence has died, there is only one option. Register and protest. Whoever is protesting in Nigeria, let your first demand, be a free, fair, credible, and verifiable election. Do you think that Biden would have stepped down as an incumbent in the U.S. if they didn’t have free and fair elections?
You once called the Labour Party a secret society led by a group of clowns.
Yes.
Why do you want to remain amid so-called clowns?
Because those clowns are removable. Abure and his cohorts.
So how are you going to do that?
No, their NWC has expired. So it is dead. It is gone. If I had a leader who is deciding like I said, one statement from Obi would have just done it. Abure, your regime is over, I told you not to organise this convention, Stakeholders of the Labour Party, please, move in and do the needful. That’s all. He had that kind of followership but he said that is not the way he does things. And I am saying, Oga, if you allow it to fester, we will get anarchy. I will tell you something. Jurisprudentially, the essence and philosophy behind punishment is not that anybody is deriving any joy in inflicting injury on somebody, but for deterrence. So law without a sword is made worse. So if you want to evoke the law, you must invoke the sword so that somebody will be deterred from not doing it. It is not happening in the Labour Party under my principle. And I respect him. That is his principle. For me, that is not my principle. I am not. You know, I am a very cool guy. Give it to me. But my sweetness has a but. Because I don’t want anybody to lick me up. So I have that bitterness in that sweetness that will make you think twice when you want to lick me up. So we have different temperaments. And I wouldn’t want anybody to say I am pushing him to do what he doesn’t want to do. For me now, calm down will never bring a solution to any problem in an election in Nigeria.
You seem to be in a bit of a tight place. Because if Mr. Obi decides in 2027, I don’t know, that he wants to still run on the platform of the Labour Party. We don’t know what the party is going to be in 2027. What lessons are you learning from this entire experience?
The lesson I am learning is that one. The days of calm down are over. If you cannot fight these people to the level that you have to put your life on the line, then you have to step aside.
Are you ready to put your own life on the line?
When I was challenging a ruling party, saying all those things I was saying during the election, was I in any doubt that I was not putting my life on the line? You know what it means? The ruling party knows where you are at any point in time. So, I have already put my life on the line.
And you are going to continue to do that?
The welfare and security of Nigerians for me is completely a minimum for me. So, I don’t even think about death. Because for me, it is irresponsible to fear the inevitable. Everybody must die. So, why should I fear an inevitability? Nigeria will work in my generation. Take it from me.
You have said you want to see a fight in Nigeria similar to that of the president of Senegal. How far away do you think we are from that?
Absolutely. It can happen tomorrow. It can happen today.
In this circumstance?
A miracle happens in the twinkle of an eye. I am a believer in miracles. It can happen. Do you know that that young man withstood the ruling party? Do you know that the president has already canceled elections in that country? That young man insisted I want to contest. They took him to jail. He insisted. He insisted. The people stood up. When the courts of Senegal saw what was happening in the streets, they gave judgment against the president who had already suspended the election. He was compelled to organise an election and the young man was declared the winner ten days from jail. Nigerians can do better than that.
