The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, has threatened legal action against former ally and African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo, over alleged defamatory remarks made during a television interview.
In a pre-action letter signed by his lawyer, Alex Ejesieme (SAN), Obi accused Okonkwo of making false and damaging allegations against him during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Monday.
The development marks a further deterioration in the relationship between the two politicians, who were once political associates in the Labour Party before both moved to the ADC. Obi later left the party to join the NDC.
During the interview, Okonkwo alleged that Obi and members of the NDC South-East caucus demanded N10 million from House of Representatives aspirants in exchange for party tickets.
He specifically claimed that Obunike Ohaegbu, an aspirant for the Nnewi North-South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency seat in Anambra State, sent him a message and payment receipt allegedly showing that Obi collected N10 million from him and other aspirants.
According to Okonkwo, the aspirants were later instructed to participate in party primaries despite allegedly being assured of automatic tickets after making the payments.
He further alleged that Obi stayed at Johnwood Hotel in Abuja, where he reportedly compiled and submitted a list of NDC candidates for various constituencies. Okonkwo also accused the party of extorting aspirants and described the alleged actions as criminal.
However, Ohaegbu has publicly denied making the claims attributed to him by Okonkwo.
Speaking on the same Channels Television programme on Tuesday, Ohaegbu stated that Obi never asked him to pay N10 million and that he never informed Okonkwo that Obi demanded any form of bribe.
“I am telling you that Peter Obi never told me to pay N10 million. I never told Kenneth Okonkwo that Peter Obi, in any way, asked me to pay N10 million,” he said.
Ohaegbu also denied accusing the NDC South-East caucus of bribery or alleging that Obi personally prepared a list of candidates at Johnwood Hotel.
“What I said is that there was an allegation that the list had been prepared in Johnwood. I did not mention any names,” he clarified.
In the letter, Obi described Okonkwo’s allegations as false, reckless, and highly damaging, arguing that they portrayed him as a bribe collector, fraudster, and dishonest political actor involved in criminal conduct.
“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.
He further accused Okonkwo of deliberately attempting to expose him to public hatred, contempt, ridicule, and reputational harm.
As part of his demands, Obi requested that Okonkwo retract the statements and publish an unreserved apology on Channels Television and across all his social media platforms within seven days.
He also demanded N5 billion in general, aggravated, and exemplary damages for the alleged injury to his reputation, as well as a written undertaking that no similar statements would be made against him in the future.
The letter warned that failure to comply with the demands would leave Obi with no option but to seek legal redress, including claims for damages, injunctive reliefs, a public retraction, an apology, and the full cost of legal proceedings.
