RibsNPacks Republic boss Blackfada has criticised the legal profession and judicial system while reacting to former Peter Obi spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo’s admission that he was “misled” when defending the former Anambra State governor’s financial record during the 2023 presidential campaign.
Blackfada made the comments after Okonkwo publicly revised some of his previous claims about Obi, saying he could no longer repeat what he told Nigerians in 2023 because he had received new information about debts and financial obligations associated with Obi’s tenure as governor of Anambra State.
Okonkwo, who now serves as spokesman for the presidential campaign council of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar in the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the disclosure during an appearance on Television Continental’s Sunday Politics.
Reacting to the development, Blackfada argued that greater scrutiny was needed within the legal profession because of the potential impact lawyers and judicial institutions can have on society.
“This shows the law profession needs to screen a lot of people making the profession so not noble to Nigerians,” Blackfada said.
He added that while the shortcomings of an individual in a private role might affect a limited number of people, failures involving lawyers or the judicial system could have wider consequences.
“A failed father might be accepted but a failed lawyer or judicial system might tamper with the progress and development of a nation just as we are currently witnessing,” he said.
Okonkwo said he had previously told Nigerians during the 2023 presidential campaign that Obi left Anambra without outstanding debts, unpaid salaries, gratuities or pensions.
“There was a time I told Nigerians that Peter Obi was not owing anything, did not leave any debt, he was not owing any salary. No gratuity. No pension. And I said, go and verify,” Okonkwo said.
He subsequently said that information released by the Anambra State Government had caused him to reconsider those earlier assertions.
“The fact is Anambra State Government said he borrowed eight loans. The fact is that Anambra State said that at the water corporation, he was owing workers there, all the salaries, all the arrears. I cannot say the same thing that I said about Peter Obi in 2023,” he said.
Okonkwo stressed that he was prepared to change his position when new information emerged.
“I’m not a man that stands on my own misunderstanding. When I see the facts, I agree,” he said.
The comments come amid an ongoing dispute between Obi and the Anambra State Government over financial obligations associated with his administration.
The state government has said that eight external facilities linked to projects undertaken during Obi’s tenure had a combined contracted value of $123.77 million, with $92.35 million outstanding as of June 30, 2026, citing figures from the Debt Management Office.
Obi has rejected the characterisation of those facilities as debts he personally left behind. He has maintained that he did not personally approach financial institutions to borrow money for Anambra and did not issue a bond during his tenure.
He has also continued to maintain that he left office without unpaid salaries, pensions, gratuities or certified contractor obligations.
The disagreement therefore involves not only whether financial facilities existed, but also how those facilities should be classified and attributed to Obi's administration.
Okonkwo was one of Obi's most prominent defenders during the 2023 presidential campaign and frequently challenged critics to verify claims about the former governor's record.
He now says his role in the next election cycle will be different.
Reflecting on the change, Okonkwo said: “In 2023, I campaigned for them as the examination in chief. In 2027, it’s going to be a cross-examination.”
Okonkwo is now aligned with the ADC and serves as spokesman for Atiku Abubakar's 2027 presidential campaign council, putting him on a different political platform from Obi.
Blackfada's comments also come amid broader public discussions about standards and public confidence in Nigeria's legal profession.
The Nigerian Bar Association currently maintains an annual practising list and mandatory continuing professional development requirements for practising lawyers. Its 2026 practising list requires lawyers to have paid their practising fees and met the minimum continuing professional development requirements.
Separately, senior lawyer Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, recently warned of what he described as a crisis of confidence in the legal profession, arguing that partisan, sectional and personal interests were undermining professional integrity. Those comments were his assessment and not an official finding about the profession as a whole.
Blackfada's latest comments similarly raise questions about professional accountability, but do not establish that any particular lawyer or judicial officer has failed in their professional duties.
Meanwhile, the political and financial dispute surrounding Obi's tenure as Anambra governor remains contested, with Obi and the Anambra State Government offering different interpretations of the state's financial records.
Okonkwo's admission has nevertheless added a new dimension to the controversy, particularly because of his previous role as one of Obi's leading public defenders during the 2023 election.
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