Picture: Barr Kenneth Okonkwo
From The Nijasun News Desk
Former spokesman for Peter Obi’s 2023 presidential campaign, Kenneth Okonkwo, has made a dramatic U-turn on his earlier defence of the former Anambra State governor’s financial record, saying he was “misled” at the time.
Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), said he could no longer, according to Vanguard report, repeat claims he made during the 2023 presidential campaign that Obi left office without debts, unpaid salaries, pensions or gratuities.
He spoke on Sunday Politics, a Television Continental (TVC) programme, where he said he was prepared to change his position whenever new facts emerged.
“You know me, I’m a very passionate person in whatever I believe in. Let me tell you because I was misled,” Okonkwo said.
He recalled that during the 2023 campaign, he had told Nigerians that Obi did not leave any debt or unpaid obligations when he handed over power in 2014.
“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify.
“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree,” he said.
Okonkwo said his position changed following claims by the Anambra State Government that the Obi administration obtained eight loans and left salary arrears owed to workers of the state-owned water corporation.
“The fact is Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there, all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he stated.
The development comes amid an ongoing dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over the state’s debt profile and financial obligations inherited from previous administrations.
The controversy was triggered by a statement from Anambra State Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, that the state was still servicing loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of Obi and former Governor Willie Obiano.
Obi has rejected the claims, maintaining that he left office without outstanding debts and did not owe salaries, pensions or contractors when he handed over power to Obiano on March 17, 2014.
He also maintained that his administration left N2.1 billion in an ecological fund for the state.
The state government, however, disputed the claim, alleging that Obi left $123.77 million in debt. It also said it had no evidence of the ecological fund cited by the former governor.
The government subsequently released documents relating to N363.38 million in salary arrears which it said were inherited from the Obi administration.
Okonkwo also revisited his previous defence of Obi’s family over allegations concerning the value of a wristwatch allegedly worn by one of President Bola Tinubu’s sons.
According to him, his approach to Obi in the 2027 election would be markedly different from his role during the 2023 campaign.
“That’s why I said in 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination,” he said.
Okonkwo is currently a spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, the ADC presidential candidate for the 2027 election.
Obi was governor of Anambra State from March 2006 to March 2014. His first tenure was interrupted by impeachment in November 2006, but he later returned to office after a court overturned the impeachment.
Tags: Peter Obi, Kenneth Okonkwo, Anambra, ADC, 2027 Politics
