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ABUJA – Former Kano State governor and Vice Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has threatened legal action against the founder of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, over alleged defamatory comments linking him to a potential plot to betray the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Kwankwaso, through his lawyers, Magaji Mato Ibrahim SAN & Co., issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the controversial cleric, demanding an immediate retraction and public apology over the remarks allegedly made during a church service and subsequently circulated on social media platforms.
In a demand letter dated June 11, 2026, and signed by Magaji Mato Ibrahim (SAN), the legal team accused Primate Ayodele of publishing “false, malicious and defamatory” statements capable of damaging Kwankwaso’s reputation and political standing.
According to the lawyers, the controversial remarks were made during a sermon delivered before a congregation and broadcast live to a wide audience.
The letter alleged that Ayodele stated, among other things, that: “Kwankwaso is a fake to Obi, Kwankwaso will betray you, Kwankwaso has been paid to be vice president to Obi”, describing the comments as libelous and damaging.
“Our client’s attention has been drawn to your viral publication which is trending on all social media platforms and in international and local news outlets, wherein you published malicious and defamatory contents against him geared toward tarnishing his long-earned reputation in Nigeria and beyond,” the letter read.
The legal team argued that the statements directly referred to Kwankwaso and attacked his credibility, sincerity and political integrity as the running mate to Peter Obi on the NDC platform for the 2027 presidential election.
“The publication directly and unequivocally refers to our client and attacks his credibility, sincerity of purpose and political integrity as the vice-presidential candidate and running mate to Peter Obi under the Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) political party,” the letter stated.
The lawyers further contended that the assertions were deliberate, false and unsubstantiated.
“Your assertions which are deliberate, premeditated, false, unprovoked, grossly unfounded and unsubstantiated meant and negatively portrays our client to right thinking members of the society as deviant, hypocritic, deceitful and insincere,” the letter added.
According to the law firm, the alleged damaging remarks were carefully designed to damage Kwankwaso’s reputation and create division within the NDC and among its supporters.
“The intended messages in your publication are carefully designed and curated to gravely damage the sparkling reputation which our client has painstakingly built over the years and to create a rift within the ranks of the members of NDC and their teeming supporters alike,” the lawyers said.
As part of their demands, the legal representatives asked Primate Ayodele to publish, within 24 hours, a “full, direct and unequivocal retraction” of the statements and issue an apology across all social media platforms and reputable local and international media outlets where the comments gained attention.
They also demanded a written undertaking from the cleric, committing to refrain from publishing or republishing any further defamatory statements against Kwankwaso.
The letter warned that failure to comply within the stipulated period would trigger legal proceedings seeking substantial damages.
“Take notice that if you neglect, fail or refuse to accede to our reasonable demands within the stipulated time frame, we have our client’s unflinching instruction to take out appropriate legal proceedings against you without further recourse to you, wherein we shall claim substantial damages to the tune of ten billion naira and cost of the action on a full indemnity basis amongst other reliefs,” the letter stated.
