Excerpts Of Kenneth Okonkwo Lawyer's Response To Mr Peter Obi's Letter.
SUPREME GOD CHAMBERS
Legal Practitioners, Mediators, Arbitrators, Real Estate Consultants
House TD9, Plot 94, Apo Road, Abuja
16th June, 2026.
Mr. Peter Obi
c/o: Alex Ejesieme (SAN) & Co
(Madiba Chambers)
Abuja.
Dear Sir,RE: DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF FALSE, MALICIOUS AND DEFAMATORY PUBLICATIONS AGAINST MR. PETER OBI, PUBLIC APOLOGY AND UNDERTAKING**
We are the Solicitors for Mr Kenneth Okonkwo (Hereinafter called our Client), on whose behalf, information, and instructions, we write to you.
Our Client is a respected Lawyer in Nigeria who has represented notable institutions and numerous clients without blemish. He is entitled to receive briefs from his clients and represent them as he deems appropriate within the law. He is a newspaper Columnist who has been writing the back page column of a national newspaper, where he analyses matters of interest to the world. He has been a Public Affairs Analyst since 2009, after being called to the Nigerian Bar in 2009. As a Public Affairs Analyst, he is regularly approached by media houses for his opinions and exposition on pressing national issues. He is a Politician and a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). He was a Nollywood Actor, who pioneered the Nollywood industry in 1992 as the lead actor, Andy Okeke, who acted the movie, *Living in Bondage*, that started Nollywood. Above all, he is a Nigerian citizen entitled by law to hold opinions, receive ideas and information, and express it in any manner he deems fit without interference. He is also under a legal duty to expose crimes whenever and wherever he observes any.
As can be seen from the above, our Client has had extensive exposure and contact with several individuals and institutions for more than three decades, and had displayed forthright integrity and professionalism throughout his career. He has not been sued or petitioned against by any person or institution for any act or conduct bordering on integrity or unprofessionalism since his career. This is why our Client found it novel and absurd when he received a letter of defamation of character from Mr Peter Obi (Your Client), which he believes was not carefully thought out and delivered, but calculated to distract and cow him from carrying out his legitimate duties as guaranteed by the law. Consequently, our Client has instructed us to reply to you under the following terms below.
1. Our Client found it distasteful that your Client, in conjunction with your firm, chose to disclose his personal telephone number, which your Client got from our Client, when our Client served as his Spokesperson, on your letter, and equally chose to publish it on social media without first serving him personally. This conduct constitutes a data breach against our Client and is an affront to our Client's right to privacy. It is our Client's belief that this despicable act was intentionally deployed as a strategy to send a message to the numerous followers of your Client to illegally vulgar-abuse him in his line, throughout the entire media, track and target him for physical and psychological abuse, assault and eventually murder him. Our Client has suffered tremendous attacks on his person since the malicious online publication of his telephone number and incurred serious damages as a result. There was no need for such act because the letter would have been published without the telephone number or at least with the number encrypted, shaded, obscured or erased. Take notice that appropriate remedies at the appropriate time will be sought and obtained for this intentional and malicious attempt at the life and welfare of our Client.
2. The kernel of your letter is that our Client defamed your Client through the interview on Channels Television on 8 June 2026. You listed some details which are, with respect, not very accurate. Our Client denies that he defamed your Client in any manner whatsoever and expressly assert that his position on the issues he expressed reflects the true position of the matters so reflected.
3. As clearly admitted in paragraph (b) of your letter, our Client was expressing the information he got from his client who briefed our Client to help him recover the ₦10,000,000.00 (Ten million naira only) he paid into the account of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) as a product of a "scam orchestrated by your Client, Mr Peter Obi" and the NDC to defraud him of his money. Our Client Client's name was expressly stated by our Client in that interview as Obunike Ohaegbu alias Nwa Miss (hereinafter called Obunike). Our Client was also briefed by Obunike to help him (Obunike) secure an opportunity in the media to express, by himself, exactly what he informed our Client, having tried three times to secure such appointment to no avail. Using his office as a Public Affairs Analyst, who delights in exposing the incompetence and corruption of those in power, our Client named Obunike in the said interview, which provided the opportunity for Obunike to fulfil his intention. He has been invited by many media houses to do that since then.
4. Specifically, on Sunday 7 June 2026 at about 6:13 pm, in Abuja, Obunike called our Client to brief him orally on his matter. In the said call, he instructed our Client to recover his money. Summarily, he disclosed his grievances. To Obunike, "while Kwankwaso consulted his people constituency by constituency in Kano to ensure he produced only one list to avoid his people being scammed by the NDC, Mr Peter Obi, his leader from Anambra State, deceitfully told them to go for direct primaries without consultation."
5. Obunike disclosed to our Client that NDC told Peter Obi that he is the presidential candidate of NDC and needed to raise money for his campaign, and his best bet is to raise it from the aspirants. Obunike said that this is the reason the NDC allowed Peter Obi the freedom to organise the elective primary positions in the South East. NDC allowed Peter Obi the freedom to appoint all the caucus leaders of the South-East whom he would work with. They include Ugochukwu Onyema for Abia State, Achike Udenwa for Imo State, Okwesilieze Nwodo for Enugu State, Sam Egwu for Ebonyi State, and Peter Obi for Anambra State.
6. Obunike said to our Client that they were told by NDC initially that the aspirants will pay for the expression of interest form only, and whoever wins, he would pay for the nomination form. (This was publicly broadcasted by Senator Seriake Dickson.) He paid for his expression of interest form, and was told by the National Secretary, who is from Anambra State, to pay for ₦10,000,000.00 to secure the ticket. Believing that this meant that he had been chosen as the candidate, he paid. Obunike said that the Party told him that the instructions to pay came from the South East leaders led by Peter Obi because other aspirants from Kano and some states were not asked to pay. He was shocked that after paying the ₦10,000,000.00, they were told by the caucus leaders led by Peter Obi that they should proceed to direct primaries. He said he won the primary election but Peter Obi, whom he referred to as our Client's friend, wrote another person as winner at Johnwood Hotel, Abuja. He therefore concluded that Peter Obi was responsible for the fraud as the Party blamed him for it. Consequently, he instructed our Client to expose this fraud because it will facilitate the recovery. Our Client expressly asked him if he is saying that Peter Obi is the head of this fraud, and Obunike said that Peter Obi is the head of the fraud, the stomach, and feet of it. Our Client also informed him that he intends to use Obunike's name and message as evidence during the broadcast and Obunike answered in the affirmative. As a Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst, who will represent him, our Client demanded that Obunike puts it in writing, and he did to confirm all he said.
7. On the matter of Peter Obi being the leader of the South-East NDC, and being the sole authority who set up the caucus leaders who organised the elective primary election, Obunike sent to our Client the press statement issued by the NDC and signed by the National Secretary of the Party, Barrister Ikenna Alex-Morgan, on 5th June 2026. After sending the press statement, Obunike accompanied it with an instruction "Read how the Party blamed HE Peter Obi for the charade called primaries." This is a confirmation that Obunike believes that Peter Obi organised the "charade primaries" and NDC told him about it. In the said press statement, NDC wrote, "The party operates under an established stakeholder leadership structure which has caucus heads in all states of the federation. In the South-East geopolitical zone, our presidential candidate, His Excellency Peter Obi, came into the party with an established leadership structure comprising respected elder statesmen and political leaders who serve as caucus heads in their respective states. The caucus leaders are:
* **Abia State** – Chief Onyema Ugochukwu, former Chairman of the NDDC Board.
* **Ebonyi State** – His Excellency Dr. Sam Egwu, former Governor, former Minister, and former Senator.
* **Enugu State** – His Excellency Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, former Governor, former National Secretary, and former National Chairman of the PDP.
* **Imo State** – His Excellency Chief Achike Udenwa, former Governor and former Minister.
* **Anabra State** – Since His Excellency Peter Obi is our presidential candidate, his team coordinates the process.
These leaders were entrusted with conducting stakeholder consultations, building consensus, and making recommendations to the party based on their understanding of the peculiar political dynamics in their respective states. In addition, each state has recognized stakeholders and grassroots leaders who participate in consultations and make recommendations regarding party affairs."
8. As can be seen from the preceding paragraph, NDC operated, with respect to the elective primary election, only on the recommendation of the South-East caucus leaders headed by Mr Peter Obi. The purported ₦10m fee for House of Representatives and ₦20m fee for Senators demanded by the Party was based on the recommendation of your Client and the caucus leaders. To confirm this, the National Secretariat of NDC distanced itself from the conduct of primaries in each respective state. The Party states, "At no time has the NDC National Secretariat been involved in the business of picking, choosing, or imposing candidates on any constituency or state. Every aspirant who approached the party was received, attended to, and directed to engage with the appropriate caucus leaders, stakeholders, and grassroots members of the party in their respective states." It is self explanatory that aspirants like Obunike got all their instructions about the primaries from Mr Peter Obi and the South-East caucus leaders, and are reasonably right to believe that Mr Peter Obi and the caucus leaders recommended the illegal fees they were asked to pay. This was what Obunike said to our Client and this is what our Client said on TV.
9. This responsibility for the South East elective primary election has also been expressly placed on your Client, Mr Peter Obi and the caucus leaders by the National Secretariat through Brian Dennis, Deputy Director Publicity and Strategic Communications of NDC. He exonerated Seriake Dickson and blamed Obi and South-East leaders for it. He was embarrassed that 99 members of NDC contested for the House of Representatives tickets in Enugu State, and all of them declared themselves winners, while 98 contested in Imo State. 99 aspirants paying 10m to NDC meant that Enugu State paid ₦990,000,000.00 (Nine hundred and ninety million naira only) to NDC illegally, and Imo State paid ₦980,000,000.00 to the NDC illegally for the HOR primary election only. Note that money was still collected from aspirants contesting for Houses of Assembly, Senate, and Governorship. These run into billions siphoned from South-East through misrepresentation. (See <https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1HZCPtBrFn/> accessed 16 June 2026).
10. Obunike admitted to our Client that he was scammed by your Client and NDC. He has publicly admitted that he told our Client that the National Secretary told him to pay ₦10m to lock down the ticket for him. In referring to your Client and the NDC, Obunike wrote, "I am Obunike Ohaegbu, aspirant for Nnewi North/Nnewi South Ekwusigo Federal Constituency and I am saying that I was scammed and the party blames PO."
11. The illegality of the demand for ₦10m for nomination ticket has been publicly established by Mr Okere Kingdom, a HOR aspirant from Owerri Federal Constituency, Imo State, who stated in front of the NDC National Secretariat that he served NDC a pre-action notice because it illegally demanded the sum of ₦10m from the aspirants for the HOR primary election in Imo State. He asserted that the party's rules for the primary election stipulated the payment of expression of interest form fee only before election. He paid ₦3m for the expression of interest form and refused to pay for any other illegal amount demanded from him. He said that the party is leveraging on your Client, Peter Obis personality to engage in transactional politics, ticket racketeering, and extortion of people. He disclosed publicly that there was no primary election in Imo State NDC but someone came from the National to conduct primary election in Imo State, and after addressing the aspirants, went to a hotel and later retired to the home of one Owerri prominent politician where they wrote results for Owerri Constituency where no primary election was conducted. (See https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18mQwnVKSe/` accessed 16 June 2026). Recall that Achike Udenwa is the caucus leader of NDC in Imo State appointed by your Client, Peter Obi, as stated above.
12. Our Client, therefore, legitimately received Obunike's brief to assist Obunike to recover his money. Our Client informed Obunike to await the recovery of his money after mentioning your Client's name Peter Obi publicly. Our Client wrote, "I believe that PO will find a way to start refunding you people your money after the interview." Our Client informed Obunike that he will appear on Channels TV to grant interview as discussed. He assured he will watch.
13. Our Client, in line with the practice of law which demands that a Lawyer should inform his Client on every step he takes for him, sent the link of the interview on Channels TV to Obunike and he replied "love it" with a love emoji. This confirms unequivocally that our Client perfectly represented the instruction of Obunike in the interview granted to Channels TV. Indeed Obunike later informed our Client that he will go to Channels TV to confirm the matter. He wrote, "Please join me by 9am on Channels tomorrow to confirm my position on what has been trending since morning - Nwa Miss." At this juncture, our Client succeeded in achieving one of the instructions of Obunike, which is to expose Obunike to the media so he can use the opportunity to recover his money and expose the fraud and scam which he claimed the Party, and your Client Peter Obi perpetrated on him. Obunike even went further to inform our Client that he went to the Federal High Court to file his case against the NDC, marking the beginning of the legal process. He wrote, "Busy at the Federal High Court to file my case against the NDC." At no time, before our Client cut off communication with Obunike, that Obunike registered any objection or reservations to our Client's representation of him publicly.
14. Our Client insists that he received corroboration of Obunike's assertions from other sources before embarking on exposing the fraud against the aspirants. Chief OAU Onyema was a Senatorial aspirant under NDC from Enugu State, who was with our Client in ADC, before moving with Mr Peter Obi, your Client to NDC. Our Client received a call from Onyema that he was defrauded the sum of ₦20m through false pretenses and misrepresentation by NDC, long before Obunike briefed our Client. Onyema was reminded by our Client that he warned the aspirants from Enugu State not to join Peter Obi in NDC. Onyema disclosed to our Client that he has learnt his bitter lesson and will use every legitimate means to recover his money that was fraudulently taken from him. Onyema has since petitioned the EFCC to investigate and recover his money. He said in paragraphs 5-7, 11 that, "During the Senatorial Screening Exercise, our Client was questioned by the Chairman of the Screening Committee, His Excellency Dr. Sam Egwu, as to whether he had paid the Party Development Levy. Upon informing the Committee that he had paid ₦500,000.00, our Client was allegedly informed by HE. Dr. Sam Egwu (Chairman of the Screening Panel) that Senatorial Aspirants were expected to SHOW CAPACITY by contributing ₦20,000,000.00, House of Representatives Aspirants ₦10,000,000.00, and Governorship Aspirants ₦50,000,000.00 respectively, as a pathway to candidacy. Although the payment was described as voluntary, our Client states that the comments and conduct of the Screening Committee conveyed that payment of ₦20,000,000.00 was necessary to demonstrate seriousness, capacity and eligibility for consideration as a Senatorial Candidate; especially as one of the committee members who gave our client Forms to fill afterwards told him that it is the pathway to Senatorial ticket. Our Client consequently formed the belief that the payment of ₦20,000,000.00 was procured from him through misleading representations, false pretense, undue influence and coercive pressure exerted by persons occupying positions of authority within the Screening Committee and Party hierarchy."
15. As can be deduced from the preceding paragraph, Onyema was informed to pay the illegal sums of purported ₦500,000.00 (Party Development Levy) and ₦20m (Show Capacity Levy) by Dr Sam Egwu, who is an appointee of Peter Obi, your Client, as the caucus leader of NDC in Ebonyi State and the Chairman of the Senatorial Screening Committee of Enugu State. Onyema stated that "₦20,000,000.00 was procured from him through misleading representations, false pretense, undue influence and coercive pressure exerted by persons occupying positions of authority within the Screening Committee and Party hierarchy." The only persons occupying positions of authority in the hierarchy of NDC above Dr Sam Egwu are Mr Peter Obi, your Client, and Seriake Dickson, the Leader of NDC. This means that Peter Obi, NDC, and the caucus leaders in the South-East bear responsibility for the misleading representations, false pretense, undue influence and coercive pressure perpetrated against the aspirants in Enugu State.
16. Another Senatorial aspirant of NDC from Enugu State discussed the Enugu State Senatorial primary election with our Client, and here is what he said about your Client and the conduct of primary elections in a written message to our Client in Enugu State, "I have a direct taste of the fraud that is PO recently in the NDC." He permitted our Client to make this assertion public. At the appropriate time there will be fuller evidence on all assertions made by our Client.
17. It is important to note that as all of these allegations were flying around in all media, your Client, Peter Obi, who is the leader of the NDC in the South-East, publicly asked his own people who were defrauded to accept it as a sacrifice for the party. This reasonably discloses some level of complicity and conspiracy because every citizen is under an obligation to expose illegalities. It is unfortunate that your Client, Mr Peter Obi, who received free ticket from NDC could not negotiate free tickets for his people and supporters, but would allow his own people and supporters to be fleeced financially in order to contest election.