He said Okupe left the party immediately after he stepped down as the DG.
Okupe had resigned from the LP in a letter shared with journalists on Monday, citing ideological differences post-2023 election as the basis for his exit from the party.
“We did contest the election on the platform of the Labour Party and lost. This makes it exceedingly difficult for me to continue to stay in the Labour Party which is ideologically rooted in the left of the center.
“I have been a rightist and a Liberal Democrat all my entire life. It is therefore this ideological conflict that makes me seek an exit so that I may continue my political activities with liberalism, sincerity and freedom,” the letter partly read..
However, while appearing on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme on Thursday, Okonkwo was asked if he was aware of any consultation within the party before Okupe decided to resign.
He said, “Immediately, he (Okupe) stepped down as the DG, I can say with every degree of responsibility that he constructively had left the party because I wasn’t aware of any other interaction he had with the party. I think he just verbalised it.”
When quizzed on why the LP had attributed Okupe’s resignation to party disloyalty as synonymous with politicians, and against his (Okupe) reason for “ideological differences,” Okonkwo admitted that the former campaign DG has the “absolute freedom of assembly and freedom of association,” which are his fundamental rights.
As contained in the resignation letter, Okupe stated that along with the party’s candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, and some other party members, they had left the Peoples Democratic Party to contest the 2023 elections.
The letter read partly, “You will recall that our flagbearer, Mr. Peter Obi, myself and others left the PDP abruptly and had to look for a Special Purpose Vehicle in which to contest the 2023 Presidential Elections.”
The party’s legal counsel, however, noted that even though he had nothing against Okupe’s resignation, he has reservations against the use of the words “Special Purpose Vehicle” as used by the party’s former campaign DG.
Okonkwo faulted Okupe’s choice of words, saying, ‘Special Purpose Vehicle’ is a term used by politicians to “siphon money in the name of consultancy contract awards.”
The Nollywood actor added that the ‘ideological differences’ cited by Okupe existed before he (Okupe) became a member of the party, thereby labelling Okupe an “opportunist.”
“Could it then be that you’re an opportunist because you said – and I’m talking about what he said – the only reason you entered was to go and contest election. And the question is this: if he had gone into election and won, would he have remembered ideological difference?
“That’s why you’re an opportunist – that’s why you’ve portrayed yourself as an opportunist,” Okonkwo added.
He noted that Okupe’s whole idea “is to go and win election, not ideology.”
In December 2023, Okupe was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja after being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for money laundering to the tune of N700 million.
He was accused of illegally receiving money from a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, from the funds meant for arms procurement.
He was jailed for two years but the judge placed an option of a fine of N13 million, which he took and avoided time in prison.
Okupe, a day after his conviction for money laundering, announced his withdrawal from the campaign of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, but vowed his support and loyalty to the party’s flagbearer.
