- Safiu Kehinde
Nollywood actor turned lawyer and politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, has announced his decision to dump the Labour Party, citing the lack of effective leadership as cause of his exit.
Okonkwo joined the long list of prominent members who have left the party following his announcement in a post on his X handle on Tuesday.
While his exit is to take effect from the 25th of February, Okonkwo faulted the party’s refusal to conduct Congress and change of leadership as he claimed that the tenure of the Julius Abure-led party has long expired.
Okonkwo recounted how the Abure administration launched legal challenges against this National Executive Council (NEC) Caretaker Committee established to conduct the party’s Congress and effect leadership change as stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“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.” Okonkwo wrote.
Describing the Labour Party as non-existent, the lawyer, however, said that if Abure was interested in the emergence of a southern candidate in Labour Party to challenge President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, he would cede the position of national chairman to the north.
“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,
“This resignation takes effect from the 25th of February, 2025, which marks the second anniversary of the presidential election of 2023, after which I will be at liberty to join other well meaning, and like minded Nigerians in charting a great future of good governance for this great country blessed by God.” he added.