Veteran actor and former Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, has opened up on what he described as a deep betrayal by Peter Obi, the former presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
In a now-viral interview with Symfoni, Okonkwo accused Obi of ignoring his private warnings and choosing to align with the Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party—a group Okonkwo described as corrupt, undemocratic, and working against the interests of true party reform.
Okonkwo, who resigned from the party in February 2025, said Obi’s decision to return to the embattled Abure faction—despite publicly championing integrity—was a betrayal of trust and principles.
“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 said.
According to him, Obi was misled by party insiders who falsely claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had officially recognised the Abure leadership. Despite this, Okonkwo said he reminded Obi that legitimacy on paper should not override moral and democratic values.
“I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity. Even if INEC recognises them, these people are not democratic. Going back to them will destroy your political career. Everything you’ve stood for will collapse.’”
Okonkwo revealed that Obi ignored this counsel and returned to publicly endorse the Abure faction. He recounted how a member of that same faction sent him a video of Obi’s visit to mock him, proving that the betrayal was not only political but personal.
“Obi went back within 72 hours and stood in their office to publicly endorse them. Meanwhile, these are the same people I told him were agents being used to destabilise him. That video was sent to me with a mocking message: ‘The person you’re defending has returned to us.’”
Okonkwo said Obi only began to “act neutral” when INEC later disowned Abure’s leadership, a move he believes was too little, too late.
“You cannot be neutral after endorsing illegality. Something had to be done, but instead, Obi started pretending to stand in the middle.”
The Labour Party has been in a long-standing leadership crisis, with the Abure-led group facing accusations of financial impropriety and suppressing internal democracy—issues Okonkwo said ran contrary to the reformist message the party once preached under Obi’s banner.
Ultimately, the actor-turned-politician said he had no choice but to walk away.
“I do not swallow back my words. When Obi chose that path, I chose mine.”
Credit: YouTube | Symfoni
