Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), has rejected a demand by Peter Obi seeking a retraction, public apology, and N5 billion in damages over comments made about the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primary elections.
Obi, through his lawyer Alex Ejesieme (SAN), had issued a pre-action notice to Okonkwo, describing the allegations as false, malicious, and defamatory. He demanded a full retraction, a public apology, and payment of N5 billion in damages.
The dispute follows Okonkwo’s appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he alleged that some aspirants in the NDC were asked to pay money to secure party tickets.
In a formal response dated June 16 and issued through Supreme God Chambers, Okonkwo dismissed the allegations and refused to retract his statements.
“The kernel of your letter is that our Client defamed your Client through the interview on Channels Television on 8 June 2026,” his lawyers wrote.
“Our Client denies that he defamed your Client in any manner whatsoever and expressly assert that his positon on the issues he expressed reflects the true positon of the matters so reflected.”
Okonkwo maintained that his comments were based on information allegedly provided by Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC House of Representatives aspirant from Anambra State, as well as other party members and sources.
According to his legal team, Ohaegbu had approached Okonkwo seeking help to recover N10 million he claimed to have paid during the nomination process.
They further alleged that Ohaegbu believed the payment guaranteed him the party ticket but was later asked to participate in direct primaries instead.
The response also stated that Ohaegbu held Obi responsible for the situation and encouraged Okonkwo to speak publicly on the matter.
Okonkwo’s lawyers additionally referenced complaints from other aspirants, including OAU Onyema, a former senatorial aspirant in Enugu State, who reportedly raised similar concerns about payments during screening and nomination exercises.
The letter alleged that some aspirants paid various sums and later felt misled by party officials.
His legal team insisted that Okonkwo acted within his rights as a lawyer, politician, and public affairs analyst in making the statements.
“Our Client stands by the truth of all he declared on Channels TV,” the lawyers added.
They said the intention of his comments was to draw attention to alleged irregularities, including “transactional politics, ticket racketeering, extortion of aspirants, misleading representations, false pretense, undue influence and coercive pressure.”
