Laby Party vice chair demands ₦50bn, public apology from Peter Obi

The National Vice Chairman (South West) of Nigeria's Labour Party, Abayomi Arabambi, has issued a pre-action demand letter to presidential candidate Peter Obi, seeking ₦50 billion in compensation and a public apology. The demand stems from alleged defamatory statements Obi made during a podcast interview.

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Our Client has had a known residential and business address, maintains professional and political affiliations within Nigeria and has never been a person whose whereabouts or identity were unknown.

According to the letter, dated July 3, 2026, and issued by Arabambi's legal team, Obi stated that Arabambi "does not have an address." Arabambi's lawyers contend that this statement was false, malicious, and defamatory, portraying their client as a faceless individual lacking legitimacy and credibility.

The legal team further argued that the interview was widely circulated on television and multiple digital platforms, including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. This widespread dissemination, they claim, exposed Arabambi to significant public ridicule and embarrassment.

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The ordinary and natural meaning which reasonable viewers attached to your publication was that our client is a faceless and unidentifiable person, has no known place of residence, lacks any legitimate standing in public life and is undeserving of public confidence.

Arabambi's solicitors asserted that the publication damaged his reputation, impaired his standing in political and social circles, and subjected him to attacks on his integrity. They maintained that Obi, as a prominent political figure, should have exercised greater caution before making statements capable of harming another person's reputation. The letter alleges malice in the publication, given the audience it reached.

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Our client has suffered considerable embarrassment, humiliation and injury to his reputation. The defamatory publication has impaired his standing in political and social circles and subjected him to needless attacks upon his integrity and personality.