A High Court in Anambra State has granted Peter Obi permission to serve court papers on Kenneth Okonkwo through substituted means in an N8 billion defamation case.
Justice D.A. Onyefulu gave the order on Tuesday after hearing an ex parte application filed by Obi’s lawyer, Chisom Ibemesi. The court was informed that attempts by the court bailiff to personally serve Okonkwo had failed.
In its ruling, the court directed that the writ of summons and all related documents be served by pasting them at Okonkwo’s residence in Nsukka, Enugu State, or by handing them to any adult found at the address.
The judge further ordered that photographs of the service process be taken and filed before the court as proof of compliance. The service is to be completed within seven days.
The lawsuit stems from comments allegedly made by Okonkwo during an appearance on Politics Today, a programme aired by [Channels Television](https://www.channelstv.com?utm_source=chatgpt.com).
During the interview, Okonkwo claimed that Obi and leaders of the south-east bloc of the NDC demanded money from aspirants seeking the party’s Senate and House of Representatives tickets.
He also referenced allegations by Obunike Ohaegbu, an NDC House of Representatives aspirant from Anambra State, who was said to have accused Obi of collecting N10 million from him.
However, Ohaegbu later appeared on the same programme and publicly denied ever paying Obi N10 million or accusing him of collecting any bribe.
Following the interview, Obi demanded that Okonkwo retract the statements, publish an apology in two national newspapers, and pay N5 billion in damages for what he described as injury to his reputation.
Okonkwo rejected the demands, maintaining that his comments were based on facts and amounted to fair comment on issues of public concern.
The case has drawn attention because the two men were once political allies. Okonkwo served as one of the spokespersons for Obi’s presidential campaign during the 2023 election when Obi contested under the Labour Party.
