Claim: On Friday, June 21, 2024, a viral post claiming that Nollywood actor cum politician, Kenneth Okonkwo, who recently dumped the Labour Party (LP), is set to return to the All Progressives Congress (APC) emerged on X.
The post, shared by YabaLeftOnline reads: “LP leadership a bunch of clowns, I don’t rule out rejoining APC – Kenneth Okonkwo”.
As of the time of this fact check, the said post had gained 352K engagements, 2.1K likes, 410 reposts, and 311 comments.
The virality of this post prompted a fact check.
This post follows a recent interview where Okonkwo opened up on his next move after his exit from the Labour Party.
In that video, Okonkwo said: “Any party that is not visibly committed to the welfare of Nigerians will most likely not see me there.
“I don’t rule out going back to anything because change is constant.
“My own labour party is not impressing me.
“Assuming they continue on this trajectory where they cannot even hold an acceptable national convention, then you’d tell me I’d be there?
“I was a spokesperson at the presidential level and I did not know that the Labour Party was having a convention.
“When I saw it on social media, I thought it was fake. They were rejected in Umuahia because it was a leprous convention.
“Those people are clowns. It is the greatest joke I have ever seen in a political party and then you want to position yourself as a party of integrity. You cannot give what you don’t have.
“Abure and his cohorts, their tenure is over. Let Abure and his cohorts get behind me. They are workers of iniquity.
- “I don’t rate them. That executive is in charge of the secret society. They should be apprehended”.
Watch video of the interview here: https://x.com/ukocarter/status/1804110747246489695
Indeed, Okonkwo said he was open to joining another party, but he never mentioned returning to APC, as widely reported even by some well known media houses.
Also, a quick check on his official X handle, @realKennethOkonkwo showed that Okonkwo in a swift reaction had countered the report which has been spreading like wildfire.
He wrote: “Return to APC? – FAKE NEWS.”
Screenshot of Kenneth Okonkwo’s post on X
Conclusion
Disregard any report claiming that Kenneth Okonkwo said he would return to APC, such report is fake, and misleading.
Also, it was reported to gather traffic and boost engagements.
Note: A search on Google using the keywords ‘Kenneth Okonkwo’ shows that this misleading information was not only published by YabaLeftOnline alone, other well-known publications including, Guardian Nigeria, Gistmania, Nigerian Bulletin, etc. published it on their websites.
Screenshot from Google search
