The 2027 presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, Peter Obi, has threatened legal action against his former ally, Kenneth Okonkwo, over allegations that he collected bribes from party aspirants seeking election tickets.
In a pre-action letter signed by his lawyer, Alex Ejesieme, Obi described the claims as false, malicious and defamatory.
The dispute stems from comments made by Okonkwo during an appearance on Sunrise Daily, where he alleged that Obi and members of the party’s South East caucus demanded ₦10 million from House of Representatives aspirants in exchange for party tickets.
Okonkwo further claimed that an Anambra aspirant, Obunike Ohaegbu, had accused Obi of collecting the money before directing aspirants to participate in primaries rather than granting automatic tickets.
However, Ohaegbu has publicly denied making such allegations.
Appearing on the same television programme a day later, he stated that Obi never requested ₦10 million from him and that he never informed Okonkwo otherwise.
“I am telling you that Peter Obi never told me to pay ₦10 million. I never told Kenneth Okonkwo that Peter Obi, in any way, told me to pay ₦10 million,” Ohaegbu said.
Through his legal team, Obi argued that the allegations portray him as a fraudster, extortionist and participant in criminal conduct, thereby causing serious reputational damage.
He is demanding that Okonkwo publicly retract the statements, issue an apology on Channels Television and across his social media platforms, and pay ₦5 billion in damages.
Obi also requested a written undertaking that similar allegations would not be repeated in the future.
The former Anambra governor warned that failure to comply within seven days would leave him with no option but to pursue legal remedies in court.