By Our Correspondent—
Human rights lawyer and activist Chief Malcolm Omirhobo has launched a blistering attack on Kenneth Okonkwo, branding him a “political harlot” and a “stomach infrastructure politician” after the latter accepted a role as spokesman for an allegedly corrupt political figure, Atiku Abubakar, in the forthcoming elections.
In a strongly worded statement issued in Lagos, Chief Omirhobo did not hold back his contempt for Okonkwo, whom he accused of abandoning every shred of principle for political patronage.
“When a man whom you have yourself described as corrupt, and who is widely perceived to have sold your national assets to himself, his cronies, his friends and his associates for peanuts, appoints you as his spokesman in the next election — and you go to town dancing, and even hold a thanksgiving service — it shows how low, self-serving and utterly lacking in principle you truly are,” the statement read.
“It demonstrates beyond any doubt that you are nothing more than a political harlot. It proves that you are a stomach infrastructure politician, willing to sell your conscience for a seat at the table.”
Omirhobo, a vocal critic of political malfeasance in Nigeria, insisted that Okonkwo’s conduct represented a new low in the nation’s political discourse.
He argued that the decision to celebrate an alliance with a figure widely accused of asset-stripping the nation was not merely hypocritical but deeply offensive to ordinary Nigerians who continue to bear the burden of decades of misgovernance.
“The man you once decried as a thief of the commonwealth now dangles a microphone before you, and you leap at it with a song in your heart and a thanksgiving service on your calendar,” Omirhobo continued. “What exactly are you giving thanks for? The opportunity to whitewash corruption? The chance to betray the very principles you once claimed to hold dear?”
The activist lawyer called on well-meaning Nigerians to take note of what he described as the “moral bankruptcy” on display, warning that citizens deserved better from those who aspire to occupy public office or speak on behalf of political leaders.
“Nigeria is watching. History is watching. And history will record that when the moment came to stand for something, you chose instead to stand for nothing more than your own advancement.”
As of press time, Mr Okonkwo had not issued a response to Chief Omirhobo’s remarks.
