A Chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Kenneth Okonkwo, has dismissed the N5 billion lawsuit threat issued against him by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, over alleged defamation.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that Mr Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, has threatened to file a N5 billion lawsuit against Mr Okonkwo if he fails to withdraw his allegations against him, pay N5 billion as compensation and tender public apology within seven days.
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The former governor had, in his pre-action letter to Mr Okonkwo on Tuesday, claimed the ADC chieftain defamed him by alleging that he defrauded House of Representatives aspirants of N10 million each and went ahead to write a list of candidates for various federal constituencies in the South-east.
Mr Okonkwo had served as a spokesperson to Mr Obi when both were members of the Labour Party.
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‘It’s your shame if you fail to file the lawsuit’
In his first public response on Wednesday morning, Mr Okonkwo laughed off Mr Obi’s lawsuit threat.
In a post on his verified X handle, the ADC chieftain mocked Mr Obi, saying the NDC presidential candidate should have approached him for financial assistance if he needed funds for his campaigns rather than allegedly embarking on “extortion.”
“I have not read the letter. Let me sound this note of warning, the lawyers must take responsibility for any information I may have to divulge, which I acquired as a spokesperson, but which by my conscience I have not shared with anyone,” Mr Okonkwo said.
The former spokesperson said although his principle is that he does not use “any confidential information” he shared with people against them, Mr Obi might compel him to do so.
“Anyone who decides to sue his former spokesperson for defamation is indeed very unwise,” he said of Mr Obi’s threat to sue him.
Mr Okonkwo then challenged Mr Obi to sue him even as he claimed he had not read the letter and would respond after doing so later on Wednesday.
“I will reply to the letter whenever I have the time to read it later in the day. Please send it here if you have it. It will be a shame to Peter Obi and his lawyers if they do not take this case to court,” he said in the X post.
The ADC chieftain again described Mr Obi as a “hypocrite” and “a scammer” despite the pre-action letter.
Weak evidence?
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that a House of Representatives aspirant in the NDC from Anambra State, Obunike Ohaegbu, has denied telling Mr Okonkwo that Mr Obi scammed him of N10 million or wrote list of candidates in a hotel room.
But in the X post, Mr Okonkwo uploaded a screenshot of his WhatsApp chats with Mr Ohaegbu as evidence of the allegation against Mr Obi.
However, in the WhatsApp chat, an individual he claimed to be Mr Ohaegbu sent him a message that “…I am saying that I was scammed and the party blames PO.”
The chat did not show the individual alleging that Mr Obi or the South-east NDC caucus collected N10 million bribe from him or any other aspirant.
“Even though I am not an NDC supporter, you are a big Liar! What is in those text messages exchange is not what you have been saying.
“‘The aspirant said he was scammed and the party blames PO’ while you have been saying that the aspirant said PO scammed him. You are a very dishonest individual. What a shame!” an X user, Michael Adewuyi, commented, apparently disputing Mr Okonkwo’s claims.
Mr Okonkwo also uploaded on the microblogging platform a bank transaction receipt of N10 million reportedly forwarded to him by Mr Ohaegbu as evidence of the extortion.
However, PREMIUM TIMES observed that the receipt showed that the payment was made to the official NDC bank account, not Mr Obi’s account or NDC South-east caucus’ account as he earlier claimed.
Some X users faulted him for uploading weak evidence, with many saying the receipt looked like payment for NDC expression of interest form.
“Okonkwo should have his time in court or apologise to Peter Obi. What he (Okonkwo) presented as evidence of payment to Obi is just payment for party nomination,” an X user (@HAHayatu), wrote.
