Again, court postpones ex-senator Anyanwu’s defamation suit against Ohakim

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Jabi, Abuja, again, on Thursday, re-scheduled the hearing of former Imo East Senator Chris Anyanwu’s N550 million defamation suit against former Imo State Governor Ikedi Ohakim again.

The judge, M.I. Sani, postponed the hearing until 13 October, marking the second time in just three days the hearing has been stalled due to the absence of Mr Ohakim’s counsel, Ken Njemanze.

Earlier on Tuesday, the court re-scheduled hearing due to Mr Njemanze’s absence from court on the grounds of ill health. The judge postponed the hearing till Thursday (today), which was again stalled due to the lawyer’s absence.

Ms Anyawu, 73, instituted the defamation suit against Mr Ohakim, demanding N550 million damages for the former governor’s alleged defamatory remarks made about her in an interview published by The Nation newspaper in January.

The former senator sued The Nation’s publisher and parent company, Vintage Press Ltd, as the second defendant.

At Thursday’s hearing, Mrs Anyanwu’s counsel, Adekunle Kosoko, told the court that he received a letter at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday from Mr Njemanze’s firm, giving notice ahead that he would not be able to appear in court for the hearing on health grounds.

The Nation newspaper, the second defendant, which has since admitted its error and retracted Mr Ohakim’s alleged defamatory comments, was also not represented by its lawyers at Thursday’s proceedings.

Mr Kosoko urged the court to award costs against Mr Ohakim and his lawyer, to mitigate the expenses incurred in the upkeep and transportation of the claimant’s witnesses to court for the day’s proceedings.

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He also requested that the court grant an order that the case be heard on the new adjourned date.

The judge refused to award any cost on the grounds that the courtalready received the letter notifying the court of Mr Njemanze’s indisposition.

However, the judge noted that the case would commence and “possibly” close on the new trial date.

Similarly, he ordered the plaintiff’s lawyer to serve a hearing notice on the second defendant, Vintage Press Ltd., which was not represented at Thursday’s proceedings.

Background

On Wednesday, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the court had rescheduled a defamation suit filed by Mrs Anyanwu against Mr Ohakim and Vintage Press Ltd.

This development reflects the challenge of delays in Nigeria’s judicial system.

The former senator filed the suit against Mr Ohakim over a remark the former governor made about her in an interview he gave The Nation newspaper. The interview was published on 12 January.

Mrs Anyanwu, a journalist turned politician, was arrested in 1995 for being an “accessory after the fact of treason”, following her reporting on a failed coup d’état against the government of Sani Abacha, whom she had refused to endorse as president.

Mrs Anyanwu was prosecuted behind camera by a military court and sentenced to life imprisonment on 4 July 1995. The sentence was later reduced to 15 years in October 1995 following pressure from national and international human rights groups. She was released by the regime of Abubakar Abdusalami, who took office as the Head of State after Mr Abacha died in 1998.

Incensed by Mr Ohakim’s remarks suggesting that she apologised to the late Abacha, Mrs Anyanwu dared the former governor to publish the apology letter she had written to the late military head of state.

She subsequently filed a defamation suit seeking N550 million in damages for Mr Ohakim’s alleged defamation in the interview and a press statement released by the former Governor’s aide, Amanze Ajoku.

READ ALSO: Court re-schedules ex-senator Anyanwus N550 million defamation suit against ex-Gov Ohakim

But Mr Ohakim justified his comment in the defence he filed against the suit. While admitting to making the comments, he justified them as fair. He also declared his intention to publish in his forthcoming book the apology letter Mrs Anyanwu purportedly sent to the late military Head of State, Mr Abacha.

But for its part, The Nation newspaper conceded making an error in publishing the interview. The newspaper has since published a retraction of the interview and an apology to Mrs Anyanwu.

It notified the court of this development in its filing submitted to the court on 1 June.

“In the light of this, we have taken prompt steps to retract the publication across all our digital and print platforms. Furthermore, we have issued a retraction and a public apology in our May 18, 2025, edition of The Sunday Nation newspaper in order to correct the record and ensure our readers are properly informed,” the newspaper wrote.