A high court in Anambra State has granted Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), permission to serve court documents on Kenneth Okonkwo, a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), through substituted means in an N8 billion “defamation” suit.
D.A. Onyefulu, the presiding judge, gave the order on Tuesday after hearing an ex parte application filed by Chisom Ibemesi, Obi’s counsel.
The judge approved the application after reviewing an affidavit showing that attempts by the court bailiff to personally serve the documents on Okonkwo were unsuccessful.
The court directed that the writ of summons, accompanying documents and all future court processes be served by pasting them at Okonkwo’s residence in Nsukka, Enugu State, or by handing them to any adult at the address.
“Leave is granted to the Plaintiff/Applicant to serve the Writ of Summons and other accompanying processes and all other subsequent processes in this suit on the Defendant by substituted means to wit; by pasting said processes at the Defendant’s home address – NPR 48 Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State (close to Ijeoma Fishing Company, Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State) or by serving same on any adult at the Defendant’s home address…” the order reads.
Onyefulu also directed that “service to be photographed and put in court’s file to show due compliance with orders of the court”.
The order is expected to be executed within seven days.
Obi instituted the defamation suit after accusing Okonkwo of making defamatory statements about him during an interview on Politics Today, a programme aired on Channels Television.
During the interview, Okonkwo alleged that Obi and the south-east caucus of the NDC demanded bribes from aspirants seeking house of representatives and senate tickets.
The ADC chieftain also claimed that Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC aspirant for a house of representatives ticket in Anambra, sent a message accusing Obi of scamming him of N10 million.
Ohaegbu later appeared on the same television programme to deny claims that Obi collected N10 million from him as a bribe.
Following the allegations, Obi threatened legal action against Okonkwo over the alleged defamatory remarks, demanding a retraction, a public apology in two national newspapers, and N5 billion “as general, aggravated and exemplary damages for the grave injury occasioned to his hard-earned reputation”.
Okonkwo, however, rejected the demands, insisting his comments were based on facts and amounted to fair comment on issues of public interest.
Okonkwo previously served as one of the spokespersons for Obi’s campaign council when the former Anambra governor contested the 2023 presidential election under the Labour Party (LP).