Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Nollywood actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo has launched a blistering attack on his former principal and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi, declaring that Obi betrayed him while former Vice President Atiku Abubakar recognised his value and appointed him as his spokesperson despite past criticisms.
Okonkwo made the remarks on Thursday, July 2, 2026, during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today, barely 24 hours after Atiku, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2027 elections, officially appointed him as his spokesperson. The appointment came weeks after Okonkwo had openly criticised Atiku and the ADC for selecting former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the party's vice-presidential candidate.
Okonkwo, who served as one of Obi's campaign spokespersons during the 2023 presidential election, said he had publicly ended his relationship with the former Anambra State governor in 2024 after concluding that Obi lacked the decisiveness required to lead Nigeria. "I've seen in him certain qualities that make him unfit to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I made it public," Okonkwo said.
He insisted that his criticism of Obi came only after he had ended his role as spokesperson, adding that he had acted transparently by informing Nigerians of his decision. "As a public affairs analyst that I have been from 2009 before I ever met Peter Obi, I proceeded with my job," he said. "He was the one who betrayed me," Okonkwo declared.
Okonkwo contrasted Obi's response with that of Atiku, saying the former vice president overlooked his past criticisms because he believed he could contribute to nation-building. He revealed that people had warned Atiku about his previous comments, but the former vice president responded: "I am looking at this young man, I am seeing the value in him, and his tenacity to bring about a great Nigeria. That is what I am seeing. And if I have the opportunity, I will bring him in to bring that value to Nigeria."
Okonkwo described Atiku as a leader with an eye for talent, citing the former vice president's role in discovering prominent figures such as Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Professor Charles Soludo, and former Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai. "What Atiku Abubakar is looking at is not what you said about him because he knows that his desire for Nigeria is not about him, but what value are you bringing in?" Okonkwo said.
The remarks come amid an ongoing legal battle between Okonkwo and Obi. Okonkwo had publicly alleged that Obi and others collected bribes from House of Representatives aspirants. Obi, through his lawyers, demanded a retraction, a public apology, and N5 billion in damages, and subsequently filed a defamation suit at the Anambra State High Court in Onitsha in June 2026.
Okonkwo accused Obi of instituting the suit after he left the party, describing the legal action as unnecessary. "When I talked against him, he did not go to Adamawa, he did not go to Jada to bring frivolous suit against me. But this is somebody I worked for, did everything, stayed in the court for months," he said.
The appointment as Atiku's spokesperson marks a new chapter for Okonkwo, who had been a vocal critic of the former vice president before being brought into his campaign fold. The actor-turned-politician, who left the Labour Party in 2024 and later joined the ADC, has now found himself in a strategic position within Atiku's 2027 presidential campaign.
Okonkwo maintained that he did not defame Obi and insisted he possesses documentary evidence to support his claims, which he said would be presented before the court at the appropriate time. As the 2027 election cycle gathers momentum, the fallout between two former allies—and the unlikely alliance between a former critic and his new patron—has added another layer of intrigue to Nigeria's increasingly charged political landscape.
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