Former Nollywood actor and politician Kenneth Okonkwo has alleged that the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, alongside other party leaders in the South-East, was involved in a scheme that compromised the integrity of the party’s recent primary elections.
Okonkwo, a prominent member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the claims during an interview on Channels Television, where he accused the NDC leadership of demanding money from aspirants and manipulating the outcome of the primaries.
According to him, the allegations were brought to his attention by an aspirant for the House of Representatives in Anambra State, who allegedly sent him a distress message detailing irregularities in the nomination process.
The former Labour Party spokesperson identified the aspirant as Obunike Ohaegbu, who sought the NDC ticket for the Nnewi North/Nnewi South Federal Constituency.
Okonkwo claimed that Ohaegbu accused the party leadership of deceiving aspirants after they had purchased expression of interest forms and paid additional fees in anticipation of securing nominations.
“An aspirant sent an SOS message to me, alleging that Peter Obi has become the face of the criminality through which they were allegedly scammed in the NDC,” Okonkwo said.
He further alleged that while former Kano State governor Rabiu Kwankwaso ensured that constituencies produced consensus candidates to avoid disputes, Obi encouraged multiple aspirants to participate in primaries despite assurances previously given by party officials.
Okonkwo referenced comments allegedly made by former Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson, who reportedly assured aspirants that no further payments would be required after purchasing expression of interest forms until nomination.
According to the ADC chieftain, aspirants were later instructed to pay additional sums allegedly amounting to N10 million for House of Representatives and Senate tickets, and N20 million in some cases.
He also alleged that candidate selection had already been predetermined, claiming that names of preferred candidates were being compiled before the conclusion of the primary process.
“The aspirant sent me receipts as evidence of the payments,” Okonkwo stated.
The NDC and Peter Obi have yet to publicly respond to the allegations as of the time of filing this report.