By Musa Baba Adamu
Arise Television anchor Rufai Oseni has weighed in on the growing dispute between Peter Obi and former campaign spokesman Kenneth Okonkwo, arguing that the legal action initiated by Obi’s camp may have inadvertently amplified the controversy.
Oseni made the remarks during Arise TV’s morning programme, monitored in Abuja, while reacting to reports that Obi’s legal team had sued Okonkwo over comments allegedly made about the conduct of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) primary elections in the South-East.
The lawsuit followed claims by Okonkwo during a recent interview that Obi and some party leaders in the region collected bribes from aspirants seeking senatorial and House of Representatives tickets.
The allegations were strongly rejected by Obi’s supporters and legal representatives, who subsequently issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding a retraction and initiated legal proceedings over alleged defamation.
Commenting on the development, Oseni suggested that Obi would be better served by ignoring the remarks rather than pursuing the matter in court.
According to him, the legal action has drawn greater public attention to allegations that may otherwise have received limited coverage.
“If I’m to advise Mr Peter Obi, I would ask him to remove that case from the court,” Oseni said during the programme.
The broadcaster described Okonkwo as a political surrogate and argued that responding through litigation was unnecessary.
He maintained that many Nigerians were unaware of the allegations until news emerged that Obi had filed a lawsuit against his former ally.
“I can bet you that a lot of people did not even hear when Kenneth Okonkwo said it. It became news when Peter Obi sued him,” he stated.
Oseni further argued that public figures must be selective about the issues they react to, particularly in the era of social media and round-the-clock news coverage.
According to him, a simple rebuttal would have been sufficient to address the allegations without elevating them into a major public controversy.
“You just gave a media traction to this guy, allow him to talk as he wants, the best you can do is to refute it. It is not everything you react to,” he added.
The comments add another dimension to the ongoing fallout between Obi and Okonkwo, whose political relationship has deteriorated sharply in recent months, with both camps increasingly exchanging accusations in public.
