Nollywood actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo has announced his resignation from the Labour Party (LP), effective February 25, 2025. He made the announcement in a detailed post on X (formerly Twitter) on February 11, citing the party’s failure to hold congresses and its lack of effective leadership.
Okonkwo argued that the party, as currently structured, is “non-existent” due to expired leadership tenures at all levels.
“In the Constitution of Labour Party, the tenure of the ward, local government, and state party executives is three years.
Having conducted no congresses at these levels within the constitutionally allowed tenure, their regimes have effectively expired.”
He also pointed out that the former National Chairman, Julius Abure, and his National Working Committee (NWC) never conducted a legally recognized national convention. With the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refusing to recognize Abure’s leadership and the courts ruling that party leadership disputes are internal matters, Okonkwo believes the party currently lacks any legitimate leadership.
To resolve the leadership crisis, the Labour Party’s National Executive Council (NEC) set up a Caretaker Committee led by Senator Nenadi Usman, giving it six months to conduct new congresses and a convention. However, Okonkwo criticized Abure and his allies, accusing them of sabotaging this effort through “unnecessary legal challenges”, which have stalled the committee’s work.
He further suggested that if Abure were truly interested in supporting a southern candidate for the 2027 presidential election, he would have ceded the National Chairman position to the North to balance the party’s leadership.
Announcing his departure, Okonkwo expressed gratitude to Nigerians who supported him and hinted at future political moves:
“Since the party is non-existent as presently constituted, I am constrained to resign my membership of the party.
I pledge my continued loyalty to the Nigerian people in all I will decide to do in my political future.”
His resignation takes effect on February 25, 2025—exactly two years after the 2023 presidential election—after which he plans to align with like-minded Nigerians to chart a new path for good governance.
