Architect Tonye Patrick Cole, the 2023 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for Rivers State, has served a scathing demand letter to Federal Capital Territory Minister Nyesom Wike, seeking retraction, apology, and N20 billion in damages for alleged defamatory statements made during a recent television interview.
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The seven-page letter, dated October 8, 2025, and drafted by Chief J.S. Okutepa, SAN, of J.S. Okutepa SAN & Company., accuses Wike of uttering “very damaging, malicious and unfounded defamatory statements” against Cole during the September 18, 2025, edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today program, titled “One-on-One with Nyesom Wike.” The segment was anchored by Mr. Seun Okinbaloye.
According to the letter, Wike, while on the live broadcast which was “published/televised at your instance and permission” falsely labeled Cole a “thief,” accused him of “stealing state resources,” described him as a “conduit pipe with Sahara,” and charged him with “selling Rivers State Gas for $308 million.” Wike further claimed Cole was “directly responsible for crippling the resources of Rivers State.”
The lawyers describe these remarks as delivered using “very unprofessional gutter language unbecoming of a lawyer,” recklessly and without “any factual or justifiable legal basis whatsoever.” Politics Today, noted as “one of the most widely watched political programmes in Nigeria,” reached millions of national and international viewers via live broadcast, rebroadcasts, online publications, and social media circulation.
The letter asserts that the statements, in their “ordinary and natural meaning,” portrayed Cole—a respected entrepreneur, statesman, architect, politician, and pastor—as a “thief, a dishonest and fraudulent person, an economic saboteur, and a morally bankrupt man,” as well as an “economic parasite with no integrity or love for the people of Rivers State and Nigerians in general.” These imputations, it claims, were “calculated to expose our client to public obloquy, hatred, ridicule, [and] contempt,” injuring his profession and standing.
Cole categorically denies the allegations, stating he “has never been indicted, convicted, or found guilty of any crime in relation to the matters you raised or any matter at all.” The ongoing availability of the interview on Channels Television’s YouTube channel (linked in the letter as https://www.youtube.com/live/FAxzP7fogYk?si=ahSiodWqYWdRIBQ9) is said to “aggravate the defamatory injury,” with each replay compounding the harm to his reputation among friends, associates, family, and the public.
The letter issues a 14-day ultimatum (expiring October 22, 2025) for Wike to comply, warning of legal action via writ of summons if unmet. The demands include:
| Demand | Details |
|---|---|
| Retraction | Immediate full written retraction of the statements, broadcast with equal prominence on Channels Television, and published in at least three national newspapers. |
| Public Apology | Unreserved apology in writing, via live broadcast on Channels Television, and published in at least three national newspapers. |
| Compensation | Payment of N20,000,000,000 (Twenty Billion Naira) via bank draft for “reputational damage, mental distress, and loss of goodwill.” |
| Undertaking | Written commitment to “desist forthwith from any further defamatory publications” against Cole. |
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The firm emphasizes that the remarks were “recklessly uttered in bad faith with malice” to destroy Cole’s “hard-earned reputation.”
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