Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has said he was misled when he defended former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi against claims that he left behind debts and unpaid obligations.
Okonkwo, who served as Obi’s spokesman during the 2023 presidential campaign, said he could no longer repeat some of his earlier claims following recent disclosures by the Anambra State Government.
He spoke on Sunday Politics, a programme on Television Continental (TVC).
Okonkwo is now spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC’s presidential candidate for the 2027 election. He said he is ready to change his position whenever new facts emerge.
“You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you because I was misled,” he said.
He recalled telling Nigerians during the 2023 campaign that Obi left no debt and no unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities, and challenged them to verify it.
“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree,” he said.
Okonkwo pointed to the Anambra government’s claims that Obi’s administration took eight loans and that workers at the state water corporation were owed salaries and arrears.
“I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he said.
He also revisited his defence of Obi’s family over reports that a son of President Bola Tinubu wore a wristwatch worth N135 million.
“I ran out on television and I said nobody from Peter Obi’s family can ever wear such a thing when people are dying in poverty. I stuck my reputation on it. Can I still say that today?” he asked.
Okonkwo said his role would be different in the 2027 election. “In 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” he said.
Background
His remarks come amid a dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s debt profile. It began after the state’s Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, said Anambra was still servicing loans taken by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Obi rejected the claim, insisting he left office with no outstanding debts. He said his administration owed no salaries, pensions or contractors, and that he left N2.1 billion in an ecological fund.
The state government disputed this, saying Obi left a debt of $123.77 million and that it had no evidence of the ecological fund. It later released documents on N363.38 million in salary arrears it said were inherited from his administration.
Obi was governor from March 2006 to March 2014, though his first tenure was interrupted by an impeachment in November 2006. A court overturned the impeachment, and he returned to office before handing over to Obiano on March 17, 2014.
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