Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), on Wednesday released alleged WhatsApp conversations which he said support his claims of irregularities in the candidate selection process of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), involving Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate.
The development comes days after Obi’s legal team demanded ₦5 billion in damages and a public apology over what it described as defamatory statements made by the former presidential campaign spokesman.
Okonkwo had earlier alleged that some aspirants seeking tickets for the House of Representatives and Senate were asked to make payments before the party’s primaries. The claims were rejected by Obi, who subsequently threatened legal action.
In a series of posts on his X account, Okonkwo published screenshots of conversations he claimed were exchanged with Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC aspirant whom he cited as the source of information regarding the alleged payments.
According to Okonkwo, Ohaegbu linked the payments to decisions taken by party leaders during the nomination process.
“When I questioned him to prove that Peter Obi was responsible for demanding the N10m from him and other House of Representatives aspirants and N20m from Senate aspirants, he made it clear that when he confronted the party on who authorised the payment, the party named Peter Obi and the caucus leaders assembled by Peter Obi,” Okonkwo wrote.
He also shared excerpts of the alleged chats in which Ohaegbu expressed disappointment with the conduct of the party’s primaries.
In one of the messages published by Okonkwo, Ohaegbu allegedly stated: “The entire NDC project, at least from my personal experience, has left me feeling deceived and profoundly disappointed.”
The message further questioned how candidates emerged in some constituencies despite claims that no consensus meetings were held with aspirants in Anambra State.
The published exchange also contained the statement: “If aspirants were directed to participate in primaries while candidate lists were allegedly being prepared elsewhere, then serious questions arise about the integrity of the entire process.”
Defending his decision to make the conversations public, Okonkwo said he had a responsibility to expose any wrongdoing that came to his knowledge.
“As a citizen and a lawyer, I have a duty to disclose every crime against the state that comes within my knowledge. The South-East people have suffered enough,” he stated.
He added: “No human being can again take them or any citizen of Nigeria for granted or perpetrate any fraud against them without challenge.”
The latest development is the newest twist in the growing dispute between the two former political allies, following Obi’s demand for compensation and a retraction of the allegations. As of the time of filing this report, Obi had not publicly responded to the release of the alleged WhatsApp conversations.
