Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman to the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Atiku Abubakar, has denied opposing the choice of Rotimi Amaechi as the party’s vice-presidential candidate.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, the Nollywood actor-turned-politician said his earlier position was about zoning and eligibility, not a personal attack on Amaechi.
Okonkwo said he expected the vice-president to come from the South-East, but added that the party’s legal and internal rules limited its options.
“I do not know where you got that from.”
“First and foremost, he is the choice of the party and everybody that is a loyal party member.”
He explained that the people he would have preferred from the South-East were not registered members of the ADC before the primary, which made them ineligible under the Electoral Act timetable he referenced.
He added that the party had to work with those who had shown interest in the race, including Atiku Abubakar, Rotimi Amaechi, and others who took part in the process.
“I said I expected that the Vice President should come from South-East. It was a geopolitical expression, not the person of anybody, and of course I understood the limitations within the Electoral Act 2026.”
Why He Changed Tone
Okonkwo also said the South-East was left in confusion after Peter Obi stepped away from the race, and that the party needed a running mate who was ready for nationwide campaigning.
He said Amaechi’s support in the primary could not simply be ignored, and added that the party ought to have consulted South-East stakeholders more carefully before settling on a final position.
“Atiku was not in Nigeria when the party made the announcement, he traveled, so when he came in, he did the needful.”
The former Peter Obi ally also said he had cut ties with the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate in 2024 after deciding that Obi lacked the decisiveness he wanted in a future president.
The lawyer said he had worked as a public affairs analyst since 2009 before ever meeting Obi, and that his break with the former Anambra governor was deliberate and public.
“I’ve seen in him certain qualities that make him unfit to be the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
“He was the one who betrayed me,” he said.
