Arise News anchor, Rufai Oseni, has criticised the decision by the legal team of the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to file a lawsuit against African Democratic Congress (ADC) chieftain, Kenneth Okonkwo.
Obi had taken the former actor-turned politician to court over alleged defamation, following comments made about the conduct of the NDC primary elections in the South-East.
Okonkwo had claimed during a recent interview that Obi and some party leaders in the region allegedly collected bribes from aspirants contesting for National Assembly seats, including House of Representatives and Senate positions.
The allegation was strongly denied by Obi’s camp, which then moved to sue Okonkwo for defamation and issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding a public retraction.
Reacting during the Arise TV morning programme, Rufai described Okonkwo as a “political surrogate” and argued that Obi should not have taken the matter to court.
According to him, the legal action only made the situation worse by giving more attention to the allegation.
Rufai explained that many people were not even aware of Okonkwo’s statement until the lawsuit brought it into the public spotlight.
“If I were advising Mr Peter Obi, I would tell him to drop that case,” he said.
“He doesn’t need it. Many people never heard Kenneth Okonkwo’s comment until the lawsuit came up. It only became big news after the court action.
“By going to court, you gave him more attention. Let him speak if he wants to speak. The best response is to deny it, not everything deserves a reaction,” he added.