Court grants Peter Obi leave to serve Kenneth Okonkwo by substituted means

A state high court in Onitsha, Anambra State, has granted the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, leave to serve court summons on Kenneth Okonkwo, his former spokesperson, via substituted means in the N5 billion defamation suit against Mr Okonkwo.

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The judge, D.A. Onyefulu, gave the order on Tuesday, 30 June, according to a court document seen by PREMIUM TIMES.

The order followed an ex parte application filed by Mr Obi through his lawyer, Chisom Ibemesi, after his initial efforts to serve Mr Okonkwo failed.

The court permitted Mr Obi to serve the writ of summons and subsequent documents by pasting them at Mr Okonkwo’s last known residential address, NPR 48 Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State, close to Ijeoma Fishing Company, or by delivering them to any adult at the residence.

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Justice Onyefulu also ordered, “service to be photographed and put in the court’s file to show due compliance with orders of the court”.

The court ruled that the order must be carried out within seven days.

Background

Messrs Obi and Okonkwo were political allies before now.

Mr Okonkwo served as Mr Obi’s spokesperson while the duo were members of the Labour Party (LP).

Mr Obi was the 2023 LP presidential candidate. Both politicians switched from the LP to the African Democratic Congress (ADC) ahead of the 2027 general elections.

But Mr Obi later left ADC for the NDC, where he emerged as the party’s 2027 presidential candidate.

The former governor’s departure from the ADC appeared to have unsettled Mr Okonkwo, who had become a member of the party’s National Working Committee.

Mr Okonkwo has since then become a critic of the former governor.

During Channels TV’s programme, as reviewed by PREMIUM TIMES, Mr Okonkwo alleged that Mr Obi and the South-east caucus of the NDC demanded a N10 million bribe from House of Representatives aspirants in the party to secure their tickets.

The politician specifically claimed that a House of Representatives aspirant in the NDC from Anambra State, Obunike Ohaegbu, sent him a message and a receipt alleging that Mr Obi scammed him of a N10 million bribe.

He claimed that Mr Ohaegbu, a House of Representatives aspirant for Nnewi North-South and Ekwusigo Constituency, said that after he and other aspirants paid the N10 million bribe, they were asked to go to the field for primaries instead of being given tickets.

Mr Okonkwo further claimed Mr Ohaegbu alleged that Mr Obi, instead of ensuring credible primaries, stayed at Johnwood Hotel, Abuja, wrote and submitted a list of the NDC’s candidates for various constituencies.

He claimed that anybody who votes for the NDC and Mr Obi voted for criminality, arguing that the party had been criminally extorting aspirants.

Meanwhile, Mr Ohaegbu has denied making the statements. While appearing on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on 9 June, the politician said he never made such statements to Mr Okonkwo.

“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,” he said.

Mr Ohaegbu further said he never accused the NDC South-east caucus of bribery and did not say that Mr Obi compiled a list of candidates in Johnwood Hotel.

In response, Mr Obi, in his pre-action notice, threatened to file a N5 billion lawsuit against Mr Okonkwo if he failed to withdraw his allegations against him, pay N5 billion as compensation and tender a public apology within seven days.

In his reply, in a letter to Mr Obi dated 16 June and signed by his lawyer, V. I. Uma, Mr Okonkwo said he stood by his words and insisted that he would not retract his remarks.

The ADC chieftain repeatedly attributed nearly all his comments on the Channels TV programme to a House of Representatives aspirant in Anambra State, Mr Ohaegbu, who earlier denied making the statements.

Meanwhile, 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.

Following Mr Okonkwo’s refusal to withdraw the remarks, Mr Obi, on 25 June, filed an N8 billion lawsuit against him.

The NDC candidate asked the court, among other things, to compel Mr Okonkwo to pay him N8 billion in damages and to withdraw and delete the alleged defamatory remarks on his social media platforms.