Alleged Defamation: Court Orders Substituted Service On Wike

Fixes March 24 for hearing

A Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Gwarinpa, on Tuesday, ordered a substituted service of court processes on the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, in a N40 billion defamation suit.

Justice M. A. Hassan, who issued the order while ruling on an ex parte motion, ordered the applicant to paste the writ of summons, statement of claims, witness statement on oath, hearing notice and the entire court documents on the gate of the headquarters of the FCT, in Garki, Abuja.

During the proceedings, the applicant’s lawyer, Mr Jibrin Okutepa, SAN, narrated the inability to serve the court summons on Barr. Wike sought the court’s permission for the plaintiff to serve the court’s documents through substituted service.

Having granted the request, Justice Hassan fixed March 24 and 25, 2026, for hearing in the suit number CV/4502/25.

The plaintiff, a former candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 governorship election in Rivers State, Mr Tonye Patrick Cole, had dragged the FCT Minister and Channels Incorporated Limited to court over alleged defamation.

Cole is seeking N40 billion in damages over alleged defamatory statements made by Wike during a live broadcast on Channels TV’s “Politics Today” on September 18, 2025.

According to the writ of summons and the attached statement of claim, Cole alleged that Wike’s statements during a live broadcast on Channels TV’s “Politics Today” on September 18 were false, malicious, offensive, and damaging to his reputation in personal, professional, and public capacities.

Court documents indicated that Wike referred to Mr Cole in a manner suggesting financial impropriety and mismanagement of state resources, including allegations related to Rivers State gas and the Olympia Hotel.

Cole’s legal team, led by Okutepa SAN, argued that the statements were defamatory, as they impute dishonesty and wrongdoing, gravely injuring his client’s standing both nationally and internationally.

The claimant is seeking N40 billion for alleged damages resulting from what he described as a “malicious, reckless, and unfounded defamatory broadcast and publications,” which caused him injury, humiliation, mental anguish, and reputational harm.

Cole is also seeking N500 million for the cost of the legal action, as well as several injunctive and declaratory reliefs. These include a declaration that the statements were false and defamatory, an order directing the defendants to retract the claims and remove all copies from all platforms, and a public apology broadcast on Channels TV and published in at least five national newspapers.

The claimant is also seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing or disseminating defamatory material related to him.

Cole’s legal team stated that a pre-action notice and letter of demand, dated 8 October, were served on both Wike and Channels Television; however, the defendants failed to comply, prompting the initiation of court proceedings.

The court has directed the defendants to enter an appearance within 21 days of service of the writ.