Kenneth Okonkwo refuses to retract words, replies Peter Obi's N5bn lawsuit threat

African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain Kenneth Okonkwo has stated he will not retract his allegedly defamatory remarks concerning Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi. Obi had threatened a N5 billion lawsuit if Okonkwo did not withdraw his allegations, pay compensation, and issue a public apology within seven days.

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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.

Obi's pre-action letter accused Okonkwo of defamation by alleging that Obi defrauded House of Representatives aspirants of N10 million each and compiled a list of candidates for the South-east. Okonkwo, who previously served as Obi's spokesperson, maintained in a letter dated June 16 that his statements were truthful and based on information from NDC aspirants who claimed to be victims of extortion and transactional politics led by Obi.

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Our Client (Mr Okonkwo) 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.

"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," Okonkwo's lawyer stated. The letter further claimed Okonkwo's comments on Channels TV were intended to expose "transactional politics, ticket racketeering, extortion of aspirants, misleading representations, pretence, undue influence and coercive pressure."

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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.

However, PREMIUM TIMES reported that Obunike Ohaegbu, a House of Representatives aspirant mentioned by Okonkwo, denied making such statements. "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," Ohaegbu said. He added that he and Obi were "victims" of Okonkwo's allegations. Okonkwo also found the public disclosure of his personal phone number in Obi's pre-action letter to be "distasteful."

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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.