Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has revealed that some party members who left alongside former presidential candidate Peter Obi are already making moves to return and seek re-admission into the party. He described the recent wave of defections from the ADC as temporary, insisting it would not cause any lasting damage to the party’s structure or its coalition plans ahead of the 2027 general election.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, Okonkwo dismissed concerns over the widely discussed exits from the ADC following the departures of Peter Obi and former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso. According to him, the scale of the defections has been exaggerated by political analysts and commentators who do not fully understand the internal workings of the opposition.
He maintained that the movement out of the party is only a passing trend that will eventually subside.
Citing developments in Enugu State, Okonkwo argued that the NDC, which has reportedly welcomed some of the defectors, is already facing internal challenges of its own. He claimed that during an attempt by the party to hold a congress in Enugu, disagreements among members over alleged efforts to hijack the process led to a disruption of the exercise.
According to Okonkwo, these internal issues have caused some defectors to reconsider their decisions and seek a return to the ADC.
In his words, he said: “Some people who even wanted to follow him are already coming back. I can tell you in Enugu State, for instance, that some people who went to follow them, the NDC in their own congress that they wanted to conduct in Enugu State, their talks among themselves who felt that they wanted to hijack their NDC and not leave them alone, went and scattered them. So some of them are already running back trying to plead with ADC to accommodate them. What you are seeing is a fad. It is just a wave, and it will eventually die out.”
Okonkwo further claimed that many lawmakers and political figures who defected from the ADC were motivated less by conviction in Peter Obi’s presidential prospects and more by the belief that his popularity could boost their own chances in local and legislative elections….See More
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