Obi sues Okonkwo for N8bn over “malicious” defamation claims

 

Peter Obi has dragged his former spokesperson, Kenneth Okonkwo, to court demanding N8 billion in damages for alleged defamation, escalating a political fallout between the two ex-Labour Party allies.

The suit was filed on Thursday, 25 June 2026, at the Onitsha Judicial Division of the Anambra State High Court, according to the writ reportedly obtained by _
Premium Times.

Obi’s counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Alex Ejesieme, is listed on the court document marked Suit No. 0/229/26, with the court also authorising service on Okonkwo “out of Anambra State and in Enugu State.”

The dispute stems from Okonkwo’s 8 June appearance on Channels TV, where the African Democratic Congress, ADC, chieftain alleged that Obi and the NDC’s South-east caucus collected N10 million each from House of Representatives aspirants in exchange for tickets. Okonkwo specifically cited a House of Representatives aspirant from Anambra, Obunike Ohaegbu, claiming he had receipts and messages to prove the fraud.

Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate for 2027, fired back on 9 June with a pre-action notice. He demanded Okonkwo retract the allegations, pay N5 billion compensation, and issue a public apology within seven days. Okonkwo refused. In a 16 June letter signed by his lawyer V.I. Uma, he said he “stood by his words,” insisting he was relaying briefs from defrauded NDC aspirants.

In the suit, Obi described Okonkwo’s TV remarks and subsequent social media posts as “false, malicious, baseless and defamatory” to his reputation, character, and political standing. He is asking the court for N5 billion as general damages, N2 billion as aggravated damages for the “breadth, persistence, repetition” of the claims, and N1 billion as exemplary damages for Okonkwo’s refusal to retract after the pre-action notice.

Beyond money, Obi wants a court order compelling Okonkwo to publish “a full, unreserved and unequivocal retraction and apology” within seven days on Channels TV, its YouTube channel, his social media platforms, and in three national newspapers. He also seeks an order for Okonkwo to delete all defamatory posts, pin the apology atop his active accounts, and a perpetual injunction restraining him and his agents from repeating the remarks. He further demands 10 per cent post-judgement interest and the cost of the suit.

The case has exposed a deep rift between the two men. Okonkwo served as Obi’s spokesperson in the Labour Party during the 2023 elections. Both later moved to the ADC before Obi defected to the NDC and emerged as its 2027 flagbearer. Okonkwo stayed in ADC and joined its National Working Committee, but has since become one of Obi’s fiercest critics.

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Central to Okonkwo’s claim is Ohaegbu, the NDC House of Representatives aspirant for Nnewi North-South and Ekwusigo. Ohaegbu has denied the allegations. On Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on 9 June, he said: “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, told me to pay N10 million.” He also denied accusing the NDC South-east caucus of bribery or saying Obi compiled candidates’ lists from Johnwood Hotel, Abuja. Ohaegbu added that he and Obi were in fact “victims” of Okonkwo’s claims.

With both sides refusing to back down, the court will now decide whether Okonkwo’s allegations cross the line into defamation or fall under political commentary.