Arise News anchor Rufai Oseni has faulted the lawsuit against a chieftain of the African Democratic Congress, ADC, Kenneth Okonkwo by the Nigerian Democratic Congress, NDC, presidential candidate, Peter Obi’s legal team.

Obi had dragged the actor-turned politician to court for allegedly defaming him on national TV following the conduct of the NDC primary elections in the South East.

DAILY POST recalls that Okonkwo, in a recent interview, alleged that the NDC presidential candidate and other leaders of the party in the region collected bribes from aspirants seeking House of Representatives and senatorial seats.

The claim was vehemently pushed back by Obi’s camp, leading to a defamation suit and a seven-day ultimatum for Okonkwo to retract the claim.

Speaking during the Arise TV morning show, Rufai described Okonkwo as a “political surrogate”, stating that Obi should not waste his time in pursuing the case.

Giving his reason, Rufai said the lawsuit amplified the allegations, claiming that Okonkwo’s claim only became news after Obi slammed him.

He said, “If I’m to advise Mr Peter Obi, I would ask him to remove that case from the court.

“He doesn’t need. 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.

“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”.

Former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, has revealed that ex-Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, worked harder for the African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential ticket for the 2027 general elections.

In a continuous trade of words with former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the ex-SGF insisted that the ADC primary election that produced Atiku was massively rigged.

Lawal contrasted Amaechi’s activities with what he described as Atiku’s low-profile approach to the contest.

“Someone like Rotimi Amaechi was very confident that if we go to primaries he would win. Everybody around him was extremely confident that Amaechi would win.

“Among the three candidates, Amaechi was the one moving around, working hard to see that he got the ticket,” Lawal said.

Recall that before he dumped the ADC, the ex-SGF alleged that the primary election that produced Atiku was massively rigged, insisting that he has evidence to support his claims.

The Social Democratic Party, SDP, presidential candidate, Adewole Adebayo, has said that tenure elongation for the President and governor; is not Nigeria’s problem but the delivery of dividends of democracy.

Fielding questions during an interview on Arise Television’s ‘Morning Show’ on Wednesday, Adebayo called for the total elimination of what he described as the ‘demon that rigs elections’ in Nigeria.

He insisted that tenure elongation of the president or governors was not the problem but the lack of a functional system.

He said, “We need a political system where the voter decides the winner. My focus is on eliminating the demon that rigs elections once and for all.

“Six-year or four-year term is not the problem. The problem is that you have to have a system that works, a system where the voter decides the winner, where nobody watches INEC as if you are watching a secret society.

“And that political parties raise ideas and new people, so that when you go to a congress or political party, you go with high hope.

“So, my focus as we are heading towards June 12, is that we must once and for all kill the demon of election rigging. We must once and for all allow the voter to vote. So, the issue of how long you stay in power and all of that is irrelevant. It is what you do when you get there.

“So, I think the present system of four years, and if you are good enough, you go for another four years, that is if the people who are actually going to the government are going there only by winning free, fair, and credible elections,” he said.