By John Azu
An Anambra State High Court sitting in Onitsha has granted the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, leave to serve court processes on actor-turned-politician Kenneth Okonkwo through substituted means in his N8 billion defamation suit.
The order was granted by Justice D.A. Onyefulu following an ex parte application filed by Obi’s legal team led by Alex Ejesieme (SAN), represented in court by Chisom Ibemesi.
In the ruling, the court held that the application was meritorious and granted it pursuant to Sections 6 and 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, Order 40 Rules 1(1) and (2), and Order 8 Rule 4(1) and (2) of the High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019.
The court noted that the application was supported by an affidavit, an affidavit of attempted personal service deposed to by the court bailiff, marked as Exhibit A, and a written address filed on June 26, 2026.
Justice Onyefulu consequently ordered that the originating processes be served by pasting them at Okonkwo’s last known residential address in Nsukka, Enugu State, or by delivering them to any adult found at the residence.
The order reads:
“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 ljeoma Fishing Company, Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State) or by serving same on any adult at the defendant’s home address, i.e. NPR 48 Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State (close to ljeoma Fishing Company, Ofuluonu, Nsukka, Enugu State).”
The application followed failed attempts by the court bailiff to personally serve the defendant with the originating court processes.
Obi instituted the defamation suit over remarks allegedly made by Okonkwo during an appearance on Channels Television’s programme on June 8, 2026, in which he claimed that Obi collected N10 million each from aspirants seeking tickets to contest House of Representatives seats and personally compiled the list of candidates for various federal constituencies in the South-East under the platform of the NDC.
Before commencing the action, Obi, through his lawyers, issued a pre-action notice dated June 9, 2026, demanding that Okonkwo retract the alleged defamatory statements, publish an apology, and pay N5 billion as compensation within seven days.
According to the suit, Okonkwo failed to comply with the demands, prompting Obi to institute the legal action, in which he is seeking N8 billion in damages for alleged defamation.