By Abubakar Yunusa
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory has granted Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, permission to serve court documents in his ₦100 billion defamation suit against a former Information Commissioner, Eze Chikamnayo, through Facebook and WhatsApp.
Delivering the ruling on 16 October 2025, Justice J. E. Obanor approved Otti’s request for substituted service after the court was satisfied that the defendant could be reached through his verified social media accounts and registered phone number.
The case was consequently adjourned to 19 January 2026 for hearing.
In a motion ex parte filed by Otti’s counsel, Dr Sonny Ajala (SAN), the governor asked the court to allow substituted service because Chikamnayo had previously acknowledged a solicitor’s demand letter sent to him through the same channels.
The letter, dated 2 October 2025, had demanded a public retraction of several Facebook posts allegedly defamatory to the governor.
According to the suit (No. FCT/HC/CV/3921/2025), filed on 8 October 2025, Otti alleged that Chikamnayo repeatedly published “false, malicious and damaging” posts about him between July and September 2025.
Among the posts cited in the court documents were titles such as “Alex Otthief is a confirmed criminal and disaster” (22 September 2025), “Fighting Promax” (21 September 2025), and “Alex Otthief is a confirmed criminal and congenital liar = Looting Governor” (15 August 2025).
Otti, through his lawyer, is demanding ₦100 billion as general damages for alleged loss of reputation, emotional trauma and psychological distress caused by the online publications.
He is also seeking a court declaration that his reputation, goodwill and standing as a husband, father and political leader have been gravely injured, and is asking for an unreserved apology from Chikamnayo to be published on Facebook and in ThisDay, The Nation, The Punch and National Ambassador newspapers.
Additionally, the governor is praying for a perpetual injunction restraining Chikamnayo from making or sharing any further defamatory content about him, either online or in the traditional media.
Otti is further claiming ₦250 million as the cost of prosecuting the case.
Justice Obanor directed that the defendant must enter an appearance within 30 days of being served through the approved platforms, failing which judgment could be entered against him by default.
In an earlier demand letter, Ajala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, described the publications as “false, malicious, and calculated to instigate public hatred” against Otti, whom he said had “maintained a stainless reputation throughout his distinguished banking career.”
Ajala reminded the court that Otti, a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank Plc, had earned his public reputation through decades of professional service, and that the offensive posts had caused “unquantifiable mental torture, depression and destruction of character.”
The court’s decision marks a rare instance in Nigeria’s judiciary where social media has been formally recognised as a valid means of serving court processes.
