‘After Working With Peter Obi, You Risk Suffering Post-political Identity Crisis’ – Kenneth Okonkwo Defends Datti

Spokesperson for African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Kenneth Okonkwo, has said people risk suffering a post-political identity crisis after working with Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

Naija News reports that Okonkwo made this known while reacting to the Labour Party (LP) former vice-presidential candidate, Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed’s claims that none of the leading presidential candidates for the 2027 election, including Peter Obi, has the capacity to improve Nigeria.

Defending Datti, Okonkwo during an interview on Arise TV’s Daybreak on Tuesday said the former LP chieftain may be suffering from a post-political identity crisis after serving as Peter Obi’s running mate in the 2023 presidential election.

According to Okonkwo, Baba-Ahmed’s experience with Peter Obi and the collapse of the LP political structure may have affected his perception of the former Governor of Anambra State.

According to the Nollywood actor-turned-politician, those who participated in the 2023 campaign entered Peter Obi’s political movement with high expectations that it would produce a new political direction for Nigeria.

Okonkwo said the support Peter Obi received during the 2023 election was unusual because many people joined the movement primarily because of what they could contribute rather than what they could gain.

He, however, attributed the eventual disillusionment among some members of the movement to what he described as the “incompetence and incapacity” of Peter Obi to manage the affairs of the Labour Party.

He said, “I understand why he made his comment about Peter Obi, because we were in the same trenches together, and I can tell you that he may be suffering from what I call a post-political identity crisis.

“After working with Peter Obi, you run the risk of suffering that, because we all came in in 2023 with high hopes, and we thought that a new Nigeria is birthed.

“For the first time in my life, I saw people coming into an association for what they can give, and nobody was talking about what he can take, what he can receive.

“So, if such an association ends the way the Labour Party ended, you will see everybody coming out with political trauma, because that spoke of incompetence and incapacity of the political leader then called Peter Obi to manage the affairs.

“When everything is provided for you, the people are willing to do something for you. They were willing to provide resources. They were only asking for one thing, and that’s leadership. And you could not provide it.”

Okonkwo further referenced Datti’s comments that he could no longer help Peter Obi after the Labour Party experience, describing it as evidence that the former vice-presidential candidate had lost confidence in the former Governor of Anambra State.

He added, “That was why in his (Baba-Ahmed) own words, he said after Labour Party, he couldn’t do anything again for Peter Obi. In other words, after what happened in Labour Party, I lost confidence in him. I was there with him.”