Former Presidential Campaign Council spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo has been cut off from the Labour Party (LP), which has declared that he is no longer a party member.
IREPORT247NEW had earlier reported that Former Labour Party spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo resigned from the party, alleging internal leadership issues and a lack of focus.”
Kenneth Okonkwo announced his departure from the Labour Party. On February 11, He made the announcement in a long post on X. He stated that the party is “non-existent as presently constituted,” which is why he decided to leave it.
Part of his statements read, “In the Constitution of Labour Party, the tenure of the ward, local government, and state party executives is three years (See Article 15(2)(3)(4) of the Labour Party Constitution). Having conducted no congresses at these levels within the constitutionally allowed tenure of the executives, their regimes have effectively expired.
“The former National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, and his former National Working Committee, having conducted no national convention known to law, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the courts having held that the issue of the leadership of a political party is the internal affair of a political party for which the courts do not have the jurisdiction to entertain, there’s no effective leadership of Labour Party at the national level.
“The Senator Nenadi Usman-led Caretaker Committee, which was duly and legally set up by the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Labour Party, after the non-recognition of Abure-led National Working Committee (NWC) by INEC, and was given six months to conduct congresses and the convention, was the only viable option towards salvaging the Labour Party.
“Unfortunately, Abure and his colleagues, with the collaboration of outside forces, expectedly, being political jobbers, launched unnecessary legal challenges against this Caretaker Committee that have inhibited it from functioning.”
“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.”
In response, Umar Farouk, the National Secretary of the Labour Party, stated that because of Okonkwo’s well-known status as a Nollywood actor, the LP was not particularly surprised by his action.
The LP leader recalled that the lawyer had quit the party the previous year and accused him of attempting to discredit the party in order to gain quick popularity.
“How many times is he going to resign from the party? Has he forgotten that he resigned about three, four or five months ago? It is only when he wants to find relevance that he opens his mouth to start talking again. I have already addressed that issue with him.
“He just finds joy throwing Abure’s name around. That is why everytime he seeks relevance, he starts talking Labour Party and Abure. Let him go. He has been in APGA, PDP and the APC. So what is he doing in Labour Party?
“Let him carry his bag and return to Nollywood where he came from. He should leave us alone. He doesn’t deserve to be in any political party because he is not a good politician.”