A member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has criticised former governors Peter Obi and Rabiu Kwankwaso over their decision to leave the ADC coalition for the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC).
Both opposition figures recently exited the coalition under the ADC to join the NDC, a move Okonkwo described as insincere.
“Let me say they are political conmen. I am talking about Peter Obi and Kwankwaso,” Okonkwo said while appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
“They came into the coalition on their own and they said coalition is the best and only method to send Tinubu packing by their own words and on their own without any reason, they left for NDC, is that not being a conman?”
Okonkwo alleged that Obi and Kwankwaso left the ADC because they were unwilling to participate in the party’s primary election.
According to him, anyone who leaves the ADC coalition is indirectly supporting the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He, however, maintained that the exit of Obi and Kwankwaso would not significantly affect the coalition’s objective of unseating the ruling party in 2027.
The ADC chieftain also claimed that the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones would vote differently in 2027 in a way that would favour the coalition.
He said the two regions would align with the coalition and the North to vote against Tinubu.
“From 2015 when Goodluck Jonathan lost the election because of the South-South, South-East, they have been marginalized by successive presidents because they did not align with them.
“In 2027, the South-South and South-East will align with the coalition party, with the north and when they align, they will win Tinubu and when they win Tinubu, all the marginalisation will come to an end,” he said.
Okonkwo added that the ADC coalition would allow all aspirants to participate freely in its primary election and support whoever emerges as the candidate.
According to him, political parties that had adopted such an approach in the past had gone on to win general elections.
Okonkwo also argued that Obi, who won overwhelmingly in the South-East under the Labour Party in the 2023 election, would not enjoy the same support in 2027.
“I am trying to tell you why Peter Obi will lose the entire South-East. Have you not heard of the slogan, Obi or nothing? First of all, that slogan is an abomination culturally in Igbo land.
