Rufai Oseni, Arise News anchor, has lambasted the lawsuit filed against a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Kenneth Okonkwo by the legal team of the presidential candidate of the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, Peter Obi.
Obi had dragged the actor-turned politician to court for allegedly defaming him on national television after the conduct of the NDC primary elections in the South East.
Okonkwo, in a recent interview, alleged that the NDC presidential candidate and other leaders of the party in the region collected bribes from aspirants vying for House of Representatives and senatorial seats.
Obi’s camp vehemently denied the claim, resulting in a defamation suit and a seven-day deadline for Okonkwo to retract the claim.
Speaking on the Arise TV morning show, Rufai said Okonkwo is a “political surrogate” and that Obi should not waste his time pursuing the case.
Rufai, giving his reason, said the suit increased the allegations, saying that Okonkwo’s claim only became news after Obi lambasted him.
“If I am to advise Mr Peter Obi, I would tell him to withdraw that case from the court,” he said.
“He doesn’t need to. I can bet you a lot of people didn’t even hear Kenneth Okonkwo say it. It made news when Peter Obi sued him.
“You just gave this guy media traction, let him talk as he wants, the best you can do is refute it. It’s not all the things you react to”.
