Constitutional lawyer and Nollywood actor Kenneth Okonkwo has launched a scathing attack on Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo following his controversial remarks threatening Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate Peter Obi.
The fiery criticism came during a media interview where Okonkwo described the governor’s comments as unconstitutional and an affront to the Igbo nation.
“When you finish beating a madman, that’s when you know he has people. If a strand of hair falls from Peter Obi, then you will know he has kinsmen. This is a direct attack and threat to his life,” Okonkwo declared, his voice thick with emotion.
The legal practitioner dismantled the governor’s demand that Obi seek clearance before visiting Edo: “Remember, the governor made it clear. He said his (Obi’s) security can no longer be guaranteed. Let me ask Monday Okpebholo: Does it mean that when he finishes as governor, before he travels to any state in Nigeria, he would have to seek permission from all the governors?”
Okonkwo, known for his fiery courtroom rhetoric, invoked Shakespeare to characterize the governor: “You know, that is what Julius Caesar said… we have men above me that are fat, sleek-headed men, such as Monday Okpebholo who has a leaner, hungry look. They think too much of themselves. He said such men are dangerous.”
When urged by an anchor to moderate his tone, Okonkwo fired back: “What decorum has the Governor maintained by threatening the life of a Nigerian citizen? What decorum did he maintain by saying what he said?”
The actor-lawyer dismissed the governor’s subsequent claim that his words were taken out of context as “belated damage control,” pointing to specific inflammatory phrases: “When the governor was talking, you heard him use such words. He said he (Obi) doesn’t give shish, but he’s giving N15 million. They have even added a lie to their misdeed.”
Okonkwo announced plans for legal action unless the governor apologizes publicly: “If the Governor does not apologize, I will be on his case.” He criticized Obi for previously ignoring similar threats from Benue State Governor Hyacinth Alia, urging the opposition leader to defend his constitutional rights more vigorously.
The legal expert framed the incident as ethnically motivated: “The Governor wouldn’t have tried this with a leader from Hausa or Yoruba land. The other time Northerners were killed in Edo, he ran to Kano to prostrate. I sense tribalism and ethnic bigotry.”
Okonkwo refused to engage with APC Chairman Jared Tenebe’s anti-Obi comments, dismissing him as “inconsequential” and “just seeking relevance.” He maintained that no Nigerian requires gubernatorial permission to visit any state, stressing that Obi’s philanthropic activities – whether public or private – remain his constitutional right.
