Nollywood actor and politician Kenneth Okonkwo has withdrawn his support for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar following the announcement of former Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, as his vice presidential running mate.

Okonkwo made his position known in a statement issued on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday, shortly after reports emerged that Atiku had selected Amaechi as his running mate for the 2027 presidential election.

The former Labour Party chieftain said he could not, in good conscience, campaign for any presidential ticket that excludes the South-East from both the presidential and vice-presidential positions.

“If it is confirmed that he has chosen a candidate from the South-South, I wish him well. I am not favourably disposed to campaigning for any presidential ticket that does not have a person of South-East origin as President or Vice in 2027,” Okonkwo stated.

His remarks effectively distance him from Atiku’s campaign and signal a major crack within the opposition coalition ahead of the 2027 general election.

Okonkwo argued that the South-East has remained politically disadvantaged since the return of democracy in 1999, noting that the region has neither produced a President nor a Vice President during the period.

“This Geo-Political Zone has neither produced a President or Vice President since 1999. To deny the South-East the opportunity to produce the President or Vice President in ADC in 2027 will amount to perpetuating the marginalisation,” he said.

The lawyer and political activist expressed disappointment over reports that the vice-presidential slot may have been ceded to the South-South despite the sacrifices made by leaders from the South-East in building and sustaining the coalition.

“I heard from the social media that ADC has picked its vice presidential candidate from the South-South. If this is true, it is unfortunate, as this will continue the crude marginalisation of the South-East,” he said.

Okonkwo recalled that the ADC was founded by former National Chairman, Chief Ralphs Nwosu, an indigene of the South-East, and argued that the party’s coalition arrangement was never intended to sideline the region.

“The ADC was founded by Ralphs Nwosu from the South-East in 2005. He made the sacrifice to give up the party in 2025 for the coalition to usher in a better Nigeria. He couldn’t have made that sacrifice to marginalise his own people,” he stated.

According to him, the South-East had already relinquished key positions within the coalition and deserved consideration for the vice-presidential slot.

“I did not join the coalition to assist in the further marginalisation of my own people. I am of the opinion that if we made a sacrifice to give up the National Chairman and the President, it will amount to unpardonable injustice to deny us the Vice President in 2027,” he said.

Okonkwo further disclosed that his only request to Atiku was to demonstrate his commitment to the political inclusion of the South-East by choosing a running mate from the region.

“The only favour I asked Atiku Abubakar, who openly declared that he is the pathway to the presidency of the South-East, is to show it by choosing someone from the South-East to be his Vice,” he stated.

He maintained that his political involvement has always been driven by the desire to build a Nigeria where no region, ethnic group or individual is marginalised.

“I joined politics to fight for a better Nigeria where no region, Geo-Political Zone, or person will be marginalised,” he added.

His declaration is expected to fuel fresh debate over zoning, equity and power-sharing within the opposition coalition as preparations intensify for the 2027 presidential election.

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and four other political parties.

The other political parties the court directed the electoral body to deregister are the Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

The court order followed a judgment delivered by Justice Peter Lifu.

The National Forum of Former Legislators had, in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/2637/2026, prayed the court to determine whether INEC has a constitutional obligation to remove political parties that fail to meet the electoral performance thresholds set out in Section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), as reinforced by the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC’s regulations.

It was the position of the plaintiff that the five political parties listed as defendants in the matter had persistently failed to meet the constitutional benchmarks required to retain their registration.

The former legislators stressed that the requirements include winning at least 25 per cent of votes in a state during a presidential election or securing at least one elective seat at the national, state, or local government level.

They told the court that the ADC and the four other parties performed poorly in both the 2023 general elections and by-elections conducted by INEC, thereby failing to win seats across key tiers of government.

The litigants insisted that the continued existence of the ADC and the other defendants as recognised political parties is unlawful and undermines the integrity of the country’s electoral system.

Among other reliefs, the plaintiff urged the court to declare that INEC is duty-bound to deregister such parties.

It further urged the court to compel the commission to deregister the five political parties before preparations for the 2027 elections advance further.

Beyond declaratory reliefs, the plaintiff prayed the court to restrain the five affected parties from participating in general elections or engaging in political activities such as campaigns, rallies, and primaries.

It also sought a court injunction restraining INEC from recognising or dealing with the parties in any official capacity unless and until they strictly comply with constitutional provisions.

The judgment may affect the chances of candidates of the affected political parties, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, to contest the 2027 presidential poll.

Former Minister of Power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, has endorsed Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and President Bola Tinubu for a second term in office, saying the governor has done exceedingly well.

Nnaji announced the endorsement while fielding questions from Government House correspondents during a visit to Mbah on Monday, citing several landmark achievements of the governor in just three years.

The former Minister said he was unavoidably absent at the weekend when the people of Enugu East Senatorial District endorsed Mbah and President Tinubu at a massive rally, but maintained that politics was about lineup and he was fully in support of the president’s endorsement and reelection.

Prof Barth Nnaji and Gov Peter Mbah

“It should not be a surprise that I am in support of my younger brother. You may not be aware that during the run-up to the 2023 election, I led a group of key stakeholders in Nkanu East to campaign, going to all the key stakeholders in Enugu State, asking them to, please, consider Nkanu East; that we had not had the opportunity of holding this position. And because of that lack of opportunity, Nkanu East was about the only local government that did not have any real government presence.

“If you are in, say, the Idodo area where the governor and I come from, you had to go through four local governments before you got to the headquarters of our own LGA. This needed to change. And so now all that is changing because of the work of His Excellency, our governor. And you can see that to go from that Idodo area to Amagunze, our local government headquarters, is now a matter of a few minutes. That has totally changed the calculation,” he stated.

Continuing, he lauded the governor’s strides in the areas of security, infrastructure, and healthcare, which he said were not only critical enablers of economic growth, but also key to reversing brain drain and overseas medical tourism.

“There are so many other reasons why we have to all come and encourage our governor for what he is doing and to do more.

Gov Peter Mbah and Prof Barth Nnaji

“I was just talking with him about the two major criteria for people to come back to Nigeria instead of the ‘Japa’ syndrome of running away. Those two would be security, and the second is high-quality healthcare. So, the development of the Enugu International Hospital, which will have the sort of equipment that people run elsewhere to access, is something that is quite innovative for Nigeria.

“We are not lacking in high-quality doctors because we have them, except that many of them have run away. So, this hospital here will bring them back and begin to reverse healthcare tourism.

“Then there are all the infrastructure projects, the roads of standard quality that have been built or are ongoing across the state, and so on.

“Therefore, my presence here is to encourage him and support him so that by the next term, we should be able to see a lot more. That is the point,” he added.

Nnaji urged other people jostling for the office of governor in 2027 to join hands with the governor to consolidate on his achievements and actualise his lofty vision for the state.

Citing his personal experiences, he described Mbah as a listening leader and called on other stakeholders in the state to offer their advice where necessary.

“The whole idea is for all of us to join together to support the governor for the next term. It is okay for people to run for office, but you have to look at the future. What are we really trying to gain?

“If we are doing well, then the thing is to encourage the governor and his government to do more for the people.

“The other thing is that key stakeholders in the state should be able to come and be part of advising for the better. I mean, a governor is not God. A governor is a person of excellence who should be able to move the state forward. But in doing so, wherever there are things that are not going the way people want, we should be able to tell him. And he will listen. I believe he absolutely listens. From all the discussions that we have been having, I know he listens,” he concluded.

On Tinubu’s reelection, he asserted, “On the support for the President, there is a lineup for the office. And that lineup is very important – both the up-ballot and down-ballot candidates usually have to be supported by clear-thinking people. That is what we are doing.”