‘I won’t retract my words,’ Kenneth Okonkwo replies Peter Obi’s ₦5bn lawsuit threat

Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has insisted that he will not retract his alleged defamatory remarks against the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi.

SkyhighNewshub earlier reported that Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, had threatened to file a ₦5 billion lawsuit against Mr Okonkwo if he failed to withdraw his allegations, pay ₦5 billion as compensation and tender a public apology within seven days.

The former governor, in his pre-action letter dated 9 June, accused the ADC chieftain of defaming him by alleging that he defrauded House of Representatives aspirants of ₦10 million each and went ahead to write a list of candidates for various federal constituencies in the South-East.

Mr Okonkwo, who previously served as a spokesperson to Mr Obi when both were members of the Labour Party, maintained his position in a response letter dated 16 June and signed by his lawyer, V. I. Uma.

“Our client (Mr Okonkwo) denies that he defamed your client (Mr Obi) in any manner whatsoever and expressly asserts that his position on the issues he expressed reflects the true position of the matters so reflected,” the letter stated.

“Our client stands by the truth of all he declared on Channels TV. The whole idea of his speaking on Channels TV, which information he received from the aspirants, NDC and other Nigerians, is to expose transactional politics, ticket racketeering, extortion of aspirants, misleading representations, pretence, undue influence and coercive pressure,” it added.

Mr Okonkwo, who posted the letter on his X handle on Wednesday night, repeatedly attributed his claims on the Channels TV programme to a House of Representatives aspirant in Anambra State, Obunike Ohaegbu, and a few other NDC aspirants in the South-East.

Meanwhile, SkyhighNewshub reports that Mr Ohaegbu, while appearing on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily, said he never made such statements to Mr Okonkwo.

“I am telling you that Peter Obi never told me to pay ₦10 million. I never told Kenneth Okonkwo that Peter Obi, in any way, told me to pay ₦10 million,” he said.

Mr Ohaegbu further said he never accused the NDC South-East caucus of bribery and did not say that Mr Obi compiled a list of candidates in a hotel.

The House of Representatives aspirant, in a recent interview, stressed that he and Mr Obi were in fact “victims” of what Mr Okonkwo was alleging.

Mr Okonkwo also described as “distasteful” the disclosure of his personal telephone number in the pre-action letter sent to him from Mr Obi, which the NDC candidate and his lawyers published on social media without first serving him personally.

He said the action amounted to a breach of privacy and exposed him to public attack.

Mr Okonkwo claimed he has suffered “tremendous attacks on his person” since his telephone number was published and has incurred serious damages as a result.

He added that the number ought to have been encrypted, shaded, obscured or erased.

“Take notice that appropriate remedies at the appropriate time will be sought and obtained for this intentional and malicious attempt at the life and welfare of our client,” the letter stated.