Human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju has alleged that Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, attempted to offer him money during the buildup to last year’s election.

However, Adeyanju said he rejected it.

Speaking in a no-holds-barred interview on Channels Television on Friday, Adeyanju said Obi, who has threatened to sue him for defamation, can “do his worst,” insisting that the truth remains a valid defence in any defamation case.

Recounting his encounter with the former Anambra governor, Adeyanju said he initially avoided Obi’s repeated attempts to meet him after his public commentaries in 2022 that seemed to favour Obi’s chances.

He said, “In the buildup to the 2023 general election, because I’m not political, I was just expressing my thoughts about how and why the opposition should come together and unite against the criminal and roguish APC government.

“I had always said that if the opposition remained divided, there was no way they could win. I was simply expressing my political views as a Nigerian.

“The idea of Obi’s candidacy excited me, and I said that he needed the buy-in of Atiku (Abubakar) and (Rabiu) Kwankwaso. I even urged Kwankwaso to deputise Obi, and I urged Atiku to step down for Peter Obi.”

“Obi was persistent in trying to reach me when I was out of the country. Eventually, one of his aides, a journalist, facilitated a meeting. At the meeting, Obi commended me and said it would be exciting to work together. I told him I wasn’t working with anybody,” Adeyanju narrated.

According to him, the discussion later shifted to issues of alleged corruption involving Obi, including claims that he invested state resources in family businesses while serving as governor of Anambra.

“I was flabbergasted by his defence,” Adeyanju said. “His justification disgusted me.”

The activist alleged that as he prepared to leave the meeting, Obi stepped into another room and returned with an envelope, insisting it was “a small thing for coming.”

“I laughed and told him he didn’t know me. I don’t collect such things. If anything, I’m the one who brings out money to support causes. I rejected it and left,” Adeyanju stated.

He said he never revealed the incident until Obi’s aides later accused him of demanding N200 million from the Labour Party candidate, an allegation he described as “false and malicious.”

Adeyanju also took a swipe at Obi’s supporters, popularly known as “Obidients,” accusing them of toxicity and intolerance during the election season.

“Obidient mobs became practically uncontrollable. They threatened judges, harassed artists, insulted Prof. Wole Soyinka, and attacked anyone who criticised Obi. We had never seen such toxicity in Nigerian politics except under Buhari,” he said.

On Obi’s political character, Adeyanju said: “He is a political fraud, parading himself as a messiah. Didn’t he swear never to leave APGA? Yet he left. Today, he has one leg in PDP, another in ADC, and still in Labour Party. That’s a political prostitute.”

Adeyanju, who maintained that every allegation he made against Obi was factual, challenged him to proceed with the defamation suit.

“If he wants to do his worst, let him,” Adeyanju declared.

Background

On Thursday, SaharaReporters reported that Obi, who once publicly said he was unbothered by being called names, had now threatened legal action against rights activist Deji Adeyanju for alleged defamation.

Obi’s lawyers, Lex Ejesieme (SAN) & Co., have written to Adeyanju demanding a retraction and public apology over what they described as “false, malicious, and grossly defamatory statements” made on his X and Facebook accounts. The letter threatened legal action should Adeyanju fail to comply within seven days.

The development comes in contrast to Obi’s earlier televised position during the Sunday Politics One-On-One programme on Channels Television, where he downplayed personal attacks directed at him.

“It doesn’t bother me if you call me a thief, call me a loser, call me an idiot; it doesn’t bother me. My duty as a leader is to see the common man put food on his table,” Obi had said at the time.

Despite that assertion, Obi’s legal representatives have cited numerous posts where Adeyanju allegedly portrayed him as corrupt, fraudulent, and unfit for office.

These include allegations that Obi diverted Anambra State funds into his family businesses, used religion to campaign, and once attempted to bribe Adeyanju during a private meeting by offering him money.

The notice also listed several past comments from Adeyanju, including: “Peter Obi is a fraud. I am 100% sure he pays all the influencers promoting him online,” and “Peter Obi, the religious bigot, has been exposed.”

Obi’s lawyers insist such remarks were deliberately intended to damage his reputation.

Meanwhile, Adeyanju had earlier mocked Obi’s threat of a lawsuit, saying: “Just got this letter from Peter Obi, the religious bigot demanding a retraction from me. I laughed so hard. I can’t wait to meet him in court finally. A fraud parading himself as a messiah.”

Adeyanju further accused Obi of hypocrisy, recalling how the former governor once described Omoyele Sowore as “a blackmailer-in-chief.”

He also disclosed that his legal team had served Obi’s female aide, Serah Ibrahim, with a similar letter demanding a retraction of alleged defamatory publications against his wife.

“This same guy called the great Sowore a blackmailer-in-chief. We served his little errand girl Serah a letter to retract all her defamatory publications on Monday against my wife & she ran to the leader of the mob for help. Can’t wait to meet him in court,” Adeyanju wrote.

In the demand notice to Adeyanju, Obi’s lawyers stressed that their client has consistently championed unity and inclusiveness, and described the activist’s statements as “reckless and pernicious falsehoods” designed to tarnish his image.

They demanded the deletion of the posts, a full apology published on Adeyanju’s social media handles, and in three national newspapers of wide circulation.

Failure to comply, they warned, would result in Obi seeking aggravated damages for defamation, an injunction restraining Adeyanju from further publications, and the cost of legal proceedings.

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