Tonye Cole, former governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state, has filed a defamation suit against Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The suit, marked CV/4502/25, was filed before the FCT high court on Friday, 7 November, 2025.
Previously, in a letter dated Wednesday, 8 October, 2025, Cole, through his lawyer, Jibrin Okutepa, accused Wike of making “very damaging, malicious and unfounded defamatory statements” during a live broadcast of Channels Television’s Politics Today programme aired on September 18, 2025.
According to the letter, Wike allegedly described Cole as a thief, accused him of stealing state resources, and claimed that he sold Rivers state gas for $308 million.
Okutepa said the remarks, which were broadcast nationally and internationally, have caused “severe reputational damage, mental distress, and loss of goodwill” to their client.
The lawyer noted that the interview remains publicly available on Channels Television’s official YouTube channel and continues to “cause ongoing reputational injury” to Cole.
Source: The Cable
