Peter Obi threatens N5bn suit against Kenneth Okonkwo over 'defamatory comments' made on live TV

The presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has threatened a 5 billion Naira libel lawsuit and demanded a public apology from Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), over alleged defamatory comments. 

In a pre-action letter dated June 9, 2026, and signed by his lawyer, Alex Ejesieme, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Obi accused his former ally of mounting a calculated assault on his reputation. Obi gave the ADC chieftain a 7-day ultimatum to issue a public, unreserved retraction on Channels Television and across all social media platforms. Failure to comply with these demands will prompt Obi’s legal team to institute a formal suit seeking 5 billion Naira in general, aggravated, and exemplary damages. 

The legal dispute stems from Okonkwo’s appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday, June 8. During the live interview, Okonkwo alleged that Obi and the South-East caucus of the NDC demanded a 10 million Naira bribe from House of Representatives and Senate aspirants in exchange for party tickets. Okonkwo further claimed that Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC House of Representatives aspirant for Anambra, had sent him a message stating that Obi had scammed him of 10 million Naira for the ticket.

The following day, on June 9, Ohaegbu appeared on the same Channels Television programme to clarify and deny that Obi collected a bribe from him. Ohaegbu stated that the 10 million Naira payment was legitimately made to the official NDC bank account based on directives from the party’s national secretary, explicitly exonerating Peter Obi from personally collecting the funds.

In the pre-notice letter, Obi’s counsel firmly rejected Okonkwo’s allegations, describing them as false, baseless, malicious, reckless, defamatory and wholly unsupported by any fact. The legal team stressed that the televised remarks were intended to portray Obi as an accessory to bribery, extortion, fraud, and criminality.

“They were made with the clear intent and purpose of lowering our Client in the estimation of right-thinking members of society, exposing him to hatred, contempt and ridicule, and injuring his hard-earned reputation as a man of unquestionable integrity, a statesman and political leader.

It is particularly disturbing that the said statements were made by you on live television and were thereafter republished, broadcast and widely circulated through online and social media platforms, including video-sharing platforms, where such falsehoods spread rapidly and assume a life of their own. Your words were not mere political commentary.”