Lawyers representing the former Governor of Anambra State and Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, have issued a legal demand to activist Deji Adeyanju over a series of allegedly false and defamatory publications circulated on social media.
The notice, dated August 26, 2025, was signed by Chief Alex Ejesieme (SAN) of Ejesieme & Co (Madiba Chambers) and addressed to Mr. Adeyanju Deji of Deji Adeyanju & Partners.
TJ News Nigeria reports that the strongly worded letter accuses Adeyanju of repeatedly publishing “false, malicious, and grossly defamatory statements” about Mr. Obi, spanning from 2022 to as recently as August 2025.
According to Obi’s lawyers, the activist’s posts—many of which were published on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle @adeyanjudeji and his Facebook account—wrongly portrayed Obi as corrupt, fraudulent, and a religious bigot.
The legal team described the publications as “calculated to injure his reputation before right-thinking members of the Nigerian public and the international community.”
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Key Allegations in the Peter Obi Defamation Case
The legal statement catalogued several posts made by Adeyanju, including:
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Claims that Obi is a religious bigot who campaigned from church to church.
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Accusations that Obi misappropriated Anambra State funds and invested them in family businesses.
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Assertions that Obi attempted to bribe Adeyanju with money disguised as “thank you for coming.”
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Descriptions of Obi as a fraud, a scam, and “the leader of the mob.”
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Attacks on Obi’s personal background, describing him as “a product of bad upbringing.”
The lawyers said these statements were baseless, malicious, and intended to expose Obi to “public scorn, contempt and ridicule.”
Lawyers Demand Retraction and Apology
The letter demanded that Adeyanju:
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Delete all defamatory posts from his X and Facebook accounts.
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Issue a public apology on all his social media platforms.
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Publish the apology in three national newspapers of wide circulation.
Failure to comply within seven days, the lawyers warned, would lead to court action seeking:
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Aggravated damages for defamation.
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An injunction restraining further defamatory publications.
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Payment of legal costs.
Full Legal Statement from Obi’s Lawyers
Below is the complete legal demand letter as issued by Chief Alex Ejesieme (SAN) on behalf of Mr. Peter Obi:
EJESIEME (SAN) & CO (MADIBA CHAMBERS)
LEGAL PRACTITIONERS, ARBITRATORS & NOTARY PUBLIC
26th August, 2025
Mr. Deji Adeyanju
Deji Adeyanju & Partners
D4 Makuru Close, Wuse II, AMAC 900288, F.C.T., Abuja.
Via: [email protected]
07037717746, 08034486201
Sir,
DEMAND FOR RETRACTION AND APOLOGY FOR DEFAMATORY PUBLICATIONS AGAINST HIS EXCELLENCY, MR. PETER GREGORY OBI
We act as Solicitors to His Excellency, Mr. Peter Gregory Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 General Elections (hereinafter referred to as “our Client”). We write to you on his express instructions.
It has been brought to our Client’s attention that, through your social media handle “@adeyanjudeji”, on the platform “X”, formerly known as (Twitter), you have repeatedly published false, malicious, and grossly defamatory statements concerning him, calculated to injure his reputation before right-thinking members of the Nigerian public and the international community.
Aside the earlier defamatory posts on your X handle, some of which date back to 2022, our Client’s attention has been drawn particularly to your recent publications on 21st August, 2025, wherein you falsely alleged against him that:
“Peter Obi can only be president of the obidients on social media. You see that my one vote, I will rather give it to Tirubu than the leader of the mob. Political extremists who do not want Nigerians to criticize their presidential candidate have no place in our polity.”
Head Office: No. 14 FEZ Street, Off Kumasi Street, Wuse 2, Abuja 1 Branch Office:Madiba House Onyuli Crescent, Behind CBN Okpuno, Awka, Anambra State. Email:[email protected] Mobile:+234 (0) 803 319 8290
“If Obi feels I have ever defamed him let him sue me. Stop crying on his behalf. Let him sue me so that I can bring out evidence to prove the things I have said against him. I said I met him and he tried to give me money and called it thank you for coming, it’s 100% true. I said he took Anambra state funds and invested in his family business, it is true. And lastly, I said he is a religious bigot for using religion to campaign, it’s also true.”
These false allegations are the latest in a series of publications you have made on your X account over the years, including but not limited to the following:
1. On 6th August, 2025, you alleged that—
“Peter Obi is a religious bigot for using religion to campaign during the last presidential election.
2. On 4th March, 2024, you stated that—
“Peter Obi is a fraud. I am 100% sure he pays all the influencers promoting him online. He tried to pay me after I met him for a 2hrs meeting at his instance during the campaign. He called the money: thank you for coming. I repeat, Obi is a fraud. Let him sue me if he is not.”
3. On 4th April 2023, you described our Client as –
“Peter Obi is a product of bad upbringing. Only people who are badly brought up use religion and tribe as a weapon of division or to secure advantage. Your education is a waste if all that matter to you is your tribe/religion but you come out deceiving people and acting civilized.”
iv. On 1st April, 2023, you had earlier alleged regarding our Client that –
“Peter Obi the religious bigot has been exposed. I kept screaming it all along as he went from church to church campaigning for 7-months. Once a religious bigot, always a bigot. He did same as governor of Anambra. Even Buhari in all his majesty wasn’t this bad.”
1. On the same 1st April, 2023, you described our Client as –
Peter Obi has always been a scum and will remain one.
1. On 20th January, 2023, you alleged that-
“Peter Obi as governor of Anambra lodged billions of Anambra State funds in a bank he had interest and was generating interest from same even after he left office. If that is not corruption and abuse of office, I don’t know what else is. This is same thing as SPV & Alpha Beta.”
1. On 10th October, 2022, you falsely claimed that –
“Peter Obi and everything he represents is a complete lie. He spent 3hrs justifying how he took $12m from Anambra and invested in family business. Everyone around him is a liar for saying anything to the contrary. When I tried to leave, he offered me money as thank you for coming.”
1. On 3rd September, 2022, you described our Client as –
“Peter Obi is the thief because he took billions of Anambra State money & put it in his family business. I have never held any public office. And he lies for a living. He’s a scam. He tried to give me money to support him & I came online to expose him. That’s why you are all angry.”
1. On 25th July, 2022, you alleged that –
“The real reason I stopped supporting Peter Obi was after I met him for a 3hrs meeting at his instance of course & he told to me he invested billions of Anambra State funds into his family business. And the man was even trying to justify it. So many other things he said. SMH!”
These defamatory publications, as deliberately intended by you, have been widely disseminated across the ‘X’ platform and other social media outlets, including WhatsApp and Facebook. Our Client has further been informed that you consistently republish these offensive statements on your other personal social media accounts, particularly your Facebook account operated under the name “Adeyanju Deji”.
By describing our Client as “… the leader of the mob,” you have falsely portrayed him as an anarchist and one inclined to instigating civil unrest, breaching the peace, and fomenting insurrection. This is a most malicious and unfounded characterization of our Client, as the unbecoming traits you have
sought to ascribe to our Client, are wholly inconsistent with, and diametrically opposed to his well-established and consistent principles and values.
Furthermore, your baseless description of our Client as a “bigot” is equally defamatory and offensive. Our Client is a proven advocate of unity and inclusiveness, who has, throughout his political career and private life, consistently championed the cause of national cohesion and peaceful coexistence. The allegation that our Client harbours or promotes bigotry is a reckless and pernicious falsehood, deliberately contrived to tarnish his character and mislead the public into casting unwarranted doubt on his integrity and values. This malicious imputation, which you published on several occasions has caused, and continues to cause, grave injury to our Client’s hard-earned reputation as a respected statesman, accomplished businessman, and credible political leader of repute both within Nigeria and on the international stage.
In addition to these particular allegations, your other false and malicious statements, all published on your X social media account, including the baseless claims that our Client misappropriated public funds and is a fraudster, have dragged our Client into grave and unwarranted disrepute. By your reckless and false misrepresentations portraying our Client as fraudulent, corrupt and dishonest, you have deliberately subjected him to public scorn, contempt and ridicule, maliciously inducing right-thinking members of society to regard him as a thief, untrustworthy and unfit to hold public office. These fabrications, which are blatantly devoid of any factual foundation, were calculated to tarnish his reputation, expose him to odium and public opprobrium and cause him grave reputational and political injury.
Beyond their apparent defamatory content, your statements were obviously also calculated to generate undue media sensationalism for your personal benefit, at the direct expense of our Client’s honour and hard-earned reputation. This conduct is particularly egregious given your public posture as a self-styled defender of the people, even while your actions have inflicted serious and unjust harm on our Client’s good name.
Notwithstanding the gravity of the unfounded allegations you have levelled against him, our Client emphatically and unequivocally denies the said defamatory publications by you in their entirety and asserts that every such statements are patently false and maliciously contrived. There is not a shred of truth in any of the allegations contained in your widely circulated publication, which have virally spread across the internet and social media platforms, including X, thereby compounding the damage to our Client’s reputation and integrity.
OUR CLIENT’S DEMANDS
In the circumstances, our Client hereby unequivocally demands that you:
1. Immediately delete all defamatory posts made against him on your social media handles, including but not limited to your “X” and “Facebook” accounts;
2. Issue a full, unreserved, unqualified, and public apology to our Client to be published: a. On all of your social media platforms, including but not limited to your “X” handle “@adeyanjudeji” and “Facebook” account; and b. In three (3) national daily newspapers of wide circulation in Nigeria;
TAKE NOTICE THAT if you fail, refuse, or neglect to comply with the above demands within seven (7) days of your receipt of this letter, we have our Client’s firm and unreserved instructions to proceed against you in a Court of competent jurisdiction for appropriate redress without further recourse to you. This will include but not be limited to:
1. A claim for aggravated damages for defamation;
2. An order of injunction restraining you from further defamatory publications against our Client; and
3. The cost of legal proceedings.
We trust that you will treat this demand with the utmost seriousness it deserves by promptly acting accordingly to avoid the needless expense and embarrassment of litigation at your instance.
Be guided accordingly.
Signed:
Chief Alex Ejesieme, SAN
Editorial Commentary
The case reflects ongoing tensions between Nigerian political figures and activists on social media, where public debate often spills into personal accusations.
Defamation lawsuits have become increasingly common in Nigeria’s political and civic space, as social media amplifies personal statements to a wider audience.
Legal experts note that under Nigerian law, defamation involves any publication that injures a person’s reputation by exposing them to hatred, contempt, or ridicule. Remedies typically include damages, apologies, and injunctions.
Key Takeaway
The Peter Obi defamation case underscores the growing legal risks associated with unverified political commentary on social media. With Obi’s lawyers giving Adeyanju a seven-day ultimatum, the matter could escalate into a high-profile court battle if an apology and retraction are not issued
