The political and legal arena is on fire as Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has officially filed a ₦5 billion defamation lawsuit against his former ally and spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo.
The lawsuit, filed at the Onitsha Judicial Division of the Anambra State High Court, follows the expiration of a seven-day ultimatum given to Okonkwo to retract severe allegations made against Obi during a live television broadcast.
The legal warfare erupted after Okonkwo, an actor-turned-politician and currently a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
During the broadcast, Okonkwo leveled severe allegations against the former Anambra State Governor, claiming that Obi and the South-East caucus of the NDC had engaged in political extortion. Specifically, Okonkwo alleged that aspirants seeking House of Representatives tickets were forced to pay a ₦10 million bribe to Obi and party leaders.
He alleged that Obi bypassed transparent primaries, sequestering himself in an Abuja hotel room to personally write and submit the party’s final candidates list and was actively “scamming” political aspirants and collecting illicit campaign funds.
Obi’s legal team, led by Alex Ejesieme, SAN, stated that the allegations were completely false, malicious, and engineered to hold Obi up to public ridicule, contempt, and hatred.
”These are extremely grave, damaging, and reckless imputations of bribery, extortion, fraud, financial dishonesty, and criminality directed at the character, integrity, reputation, and public standing of my person,” Obi stated in the pre-action documents.
The suit seeks ₦5 billion in general, aggravated, and exemplary damages for the severe injury inflicted on Obi’s reputation, alongside a mandatory public retraction and an unreserved apology broadcast on national television and social media.
Despite the multi-billion Naira threat, Okonkwo remains entirely unfazed. Responding through his legal counsel, Okonkwo rejected the claims and insisted that he stood by his statements, claiming his comments were based on briefs he received from disgruntled NDC aspirants.
Laughing off the initial pre-action notice on social media, Okonkwo challenged Obi’s legal team to take the matter to court, stating it would be a “shame” if they backed down. He further warned that if pushed in court, he might be forced to divulge sensitive insider information acquired during his time as Obi’s official campaign spokesperson.
With the suit officially filed, the stage is set for a high-stakes courtroom battle that promises to expose deep political fractures ahead of the 2027 electoral cycle.
