I stand by my allegations, Okonkwo tells Obi amid NDC controversy

Kenneth Okonkwo, the chieftain of African Democratic Congress (ADC), has declined to retract or apologize to Peter Obi, who accused him of malpractices and misrepresentation against the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primary election.

According to Okonkwo in the reaction to a pre-action letter from Obi, he declined to withdraw what he had stated in an interview on Channels Television. He reiterated that those statements came after the reports of complaints forwarded to him about the matter by some aspiring candidates.

This issue originated when Okonkwo made claims on Sunrise Daily that some aspirants in the NDC have been required to pay some amount of money to get tickets from the party.

As a result of this accusation, Obi, who is the presidential candidate of NDC, made a pre-action communication to Okonkwo through Alex Ejiesiemme, SAN, asking him to retract the statement and pay N5 billion as compensation.

However, in his reply, dated June 16, 2022, Okonkwo through his lawyers, Supreme God Chambers, denied that he ever defamed Obi.

“The kernel of your letter is that our Client defamed your Client through the interview on Channels Television on 8 June 2026,” Okonkwo’s lawyers wrote.

“Our Client denies that he defamed your Client in any manner whatsoever and expressly assert that his positon on the issues he expressed reflects the true positon of the matters so reflected.”

Okonkwo said his comments were based on information allegedly provided by Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC house of representatives aspirant from Anambra state, and other party members.

According to the letter, Ohaegbu approached Okonkwo to help recover N10 million he allegedly paid to the party during the nomination process.

The lawyers claimed Ohaegbu believed he had secured the ticket after making the payment, but was later directed to participate in direct primaries.

The response further alleged that Ohaegbu held Obi responsible for the development and encouraged Okonkwo to publicise the matter.

Okonkwo’s legal team also referenced complaints allegedly made by other aspirants, including OAU Onyema, a former senatorial hopeful in Enugu state.

The letter alleged that some aspirants paid various sums during the screening and nomination process and later felt misled by party officials.

The lawyers argued that Okonkwo acted within his rights as a lawyer, public affairs analyst, and politician by drawing attention to the complaints.

“Our Client stands by the truth of all he declared on Channels TV,” the lawyers said.

“The whole idea of his speaking on Channels TV, which information he received from the aspirants, NDC, and other Nigerians, is to expose transactional politics, ticket racketeering, extortion of aspirants, misleading representations, false pretense, undue influence and coercive pressure.”

The lawyers described the publication as a breach of privacy and alleged that it exposed their client to attacks and harassment.