‘PDP Reduced to a Servant’s Servant Under APC’ – Okonkwo

Kenneth Okonkwo, a former spokesperson for the Labour Party’s presidential campaign, holds the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accountable for the party’s current internal problems, accusing its leaders of being political pawns of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
On Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily program on Friday, February 7, 2025, legendary actor and politician Okonkwo stated that the PDP’s leaders’ desire to further the APC’s agenda is the reason for the party’s waning influence.
President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of former Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, according to the former LP spokesperson, was a crucial turning point that severely damaged the PDP’s reputation as an opposition party.
Remember how Wike, a senior PDP official, allegedly conspired against Atiku Abubakar, his party’s presidential candidate, in the 2023 elections, which helped Tinubu win?

He was later awarded by the APC-led administration with the portfolio of Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), despite being a member of the PDP.

Wike’s appointment as minister, according to Okonkwo, further strengthened the PDP’s political vulnerability by preventing the party leadership from operating as a genuine opposition.

“Observe the situation in the PDP,” he remarked. Everyone could see, for example, when some people came out as G5 and worked against the party’s interests—not in a hidden way, but openly. After you made accommodations for them, you made excuses.

“Normally, graduation would begin when you accept such things, but now they want to take over the party and they have an appointment.Subsequently, they would proceed to seize control of the party, and as a result, the genuine members would now serve the APC, as their primary leader is now a minister in the APC and the others are subordinate to him. In other words, the PDP is now a servant of the APC.

In response to the former vice president’s recent assertion that the APC compensates opposition groups in order to destabilize them before the 2027 election, Okonkwo criticized the former leader, claiming that his remarks target opposition parties rather than the ruling APC.

According to him, the APC has the right to use any methods necessary to discredit its rivals, so it shouldn’t be held accountable for “bribing” the opposition parties.

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“I will never place the blame on the opposition party or the ruling party because success and excuses are incompatible. Atiku Abubakar, His Excellency, told me that the opposition party received N50 million from the ruling party. I didn’t feel embarrassed by the ruling party. I felt humiliated by the opposition groups. You are essentially accusing the opposing parties of being extremely corrupt. A willing giver will not be available if there is no willing recipient. all organization, party, or nation has the right to employ all methods necessary to undermine its opponent or opposition, he added.

Therefore, he urged opposition parties to accept accountability for their failure, stating that Atiku’s bribery accusation demonstrated the ineptitude and corruption of opposition parties.

The expectations of the Nigerian people have not been met by the opposition. They should accept responsibility for their failure, own up to their mistakes, and act morally. The ruling party wants to destabilize the opposition for political reasons, so turn down their offer to do it. However, the fact that the opposition allowed itself to be destabilized demonstrates their ineptitude and corruption, Okonkwo stated.