Kenneth Okonkwo, a prominent member of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has defended the selection of former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi as the party’s vice presidential candidate, claiming that the choice demonstrated that Atiku Abubakar, the party’s presidential candidate, has no bias against the Igbo.
Okonkwo spoke on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Thursday while responding to questions about Amaechi’s delayed public acknowledgement of his nomination and his own earlier reservations over the vice-presidential slot not going to the Southeast.
He said the ADC was addressing concerns raised by some party members through internal dialogue.
“The ADC has announced Rotimi Amaechi as the vice presidential candidate of the ADC, and in our own nature, the way we do things, whenever such an issue arises… we always go internally to negotiate, to dialogue democratically, so that we can reach compromise and come back together as one to move on,” he said.
According to Okonkwo, ongoing consultations in the ADC were aimed at resolving grievances and uniting the party ahead of the 2027 general election.
Clarifying his earlier position, the former presidential spokesman said he never opposed Amaechi’s nomination but had argued that the Southeast deserved consideration on the basis of geopolitical balancing.
“I said I would have favorably been disposed by the choice to have come from Southeast, not South-South, because Southeast has not produced the president or vice from 1999,” he said.
Okonkwo explained that the exit of Peter Obi, the Southeast’s presidential aspirant during the ADC’s nomination process, left the region at a disadvantage, limiting the party’s options under the Electoral Act.
He, however, said Atiku eventually selected Amaechi because of his close ties to the Southeast.
“That was why the excellency Atiku Abubakar still went to the nearest person that is closest to the southeast. In other words, for you to know that he has nothing against the Igbo people,” Okonkwo said.
