Atiku should be prosecuted by INEC over ‘north needs northerner’ remark – Kenneth Okonkwo
Kenneth Okonkwo, a Nollywood star who was recently appointed as spokesperson of the Peter Obi presidential campaign council (south-east), has called for the prosecution of the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar.
The Labour Party spokesperson who appeared in an interview on Channels Television, accused Atiku of “ethnic profiling”.
The PDP presidential candidate who spoke at a town hall meeting in Kaduna on October 15, had said that northerners need a president from the north and not someone of Igbo or Yoruba extraction.
Kenneth Okonkwo who reacted to this during the interview said Atiku Abubakar should be prosecuted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the comment is genocidal and capable of truncating the nation’s democracy.
The actor said;
“If there’s anybody that his team has been extinguished completely, it’s that of Atiku Abubakar, who of course should have been disqualified by now.
“By going to the north and making a genocidal statement that northerners should vote for north only; this was what caused genocide in Rwanda when Hutus were told that they should not support Tutsis because they are cockroaches.
“Atiku Abubakar went to the north and said northerners should support only the people from the north — not Yoruba, not Igbo.
“That’s ethnic profiling. That’s genocidal statement. Atiku knows he has failed, what he’s trying to do now is to make sure that he destroys our democracy after he’s failed.”
Okonkwo who is also a lawyer cited section 97 of the Electoral Act 2022 which states that: “(1) A candidate, person or association that engages in campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal, or sectional reason for the purpose of promoting or opposing a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction – (a) to a maximum fine of Nl,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both; and (b) in the case of a political party, to a maximum fine of N10,000,000.”
He added;
“This should be called to order. INEC should be implementing section 97 of the Electoral Act on Atiku because that’s a criminal offence,” the actor-turned-politician said.
“Trying to profile ethnic and religious groups. He is unfit and he’s a threat to our democracy.”
