Peter Obi given 7-day ultimatum to apologise or face ₦50bn defamation lawsuit (see details)

• Labour Party’s Abayomi Arabambi accused Peter Obi of making a defamatory remark during a podcast interview. 

• Arabambi’s lawyers are demanding an apology, retraction and ₦50 billion in damages over the alleged statement. 

• The seven-day ultimatum is a pre-action demand; Peter Obi has not been ordered by any court to pay ₦50 billion. 

• The development comes weeks after Obi himself threatened a ₦5 billion defamation suit against Kenneth Okonkwo over separate allegations. 

Former Anambra State governor and 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has been given a seven-day ultimatum to apologise and retract an alleged defamatory statement against Abayomi Arabambi, the Labour Party’s National Vice Chairman (South-West), or face a ₦50 billion defamation lawsuit.

The demand was contained in a pre-action letter issued by Neplus Ultra Attorneys on behalf of Arabambi, in which the lawyers accused Obi of making a statement they considered defamatory during a podcast interview.

According to the lawyers, Obi allegedly said that Arabambi “does not have an address” during the interview. They argued that the statement was false, damaging and had the potential to harm their client’s reputation, especially because it was circulated widely across media platforms.

Arabambi’s legal team demanded that Obi issue a public apology, retract the alleged statement and publish the apology on platforms where the comment was shared. They also demanded ₦50 billion in damages for what they described as injury caused to Arabambi’s reputation.

The letter reportedly warned that Obi would face legal action if he failed to meet the demands within seven days.

The matter is currently at the pre-litigation stage, meaning that no court has ordered Obi to pay the ₦50 billion being demanded. The claim represents the amount Arabambi’s lawyers are seeking should the matter proceed to court.

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As of the time of filing this report, Obi has not publicly responded to the ultimatum or the defamation claim.

The development comes amid a series of public disagreements and legal threats involving political figures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In June, Obi himself issued a seven-day ultimatum to former Labour Party chieftain Kenneth Okonkwo, demanding a retraction, apology and ₦5 billion in damages over alleged defamatory comments made against him.

The latest dispute adds to the growing number of defamation-related confrontations among Nigerian political actors, with parties increasingly turning to legal action over public statements and allegations.