High Court in Abuja summons Wike in N40bn defamation suit filed by Tonye Cole
Channels Incorporated Limited, the owners of Channels Television, is also being sued along with Wike.
A court notice, shared on Friday, December 5, says the case, marked CV/4502/25, is set for a hearing on December 9 before Justice M. A. Hassan in Court 33.
The notice says: "Take notice that suit no: CV/4502/25, Tonye Patrick Cole vs Nyesom Ezenwo Wike and Anor, will come up on the 9th day of December 2025 before Hon. Justice M. A. Hassan for mention."
Tonye Cole's lawyers, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Jibrin Okutepa, say the case was filed because Wike and Channels Television did not reply to a pre-action notice and a demand letter sent on October 8.
The case revolves around comments Wike made about Cole during a live show on Channels Television's Politics Today on September 18.
Cole claims the statements were untrue, harmful, and damaged his personal, professional, and public reputation.
The court documents say the comments suggested Cole was involved in financial wrongdoing and poor management of state resources, including problems related to Rivers State gas assets and the Olympia Hotel.
Cole’s team argues that the comments implied dishonesty and wrongdoing, which harmed his reputation both in Nigeria and abroad.
Cole says he has suffered humiliation, mental distress, and damage to his reputation because of what he describes as a "malicious, reckless, and unfounded defamatory broadcast and publication."
In addition to the forty billion naira in damages, he is also asking for five hundred million naira in legal costs and a court order stating that the statements were false and defamatory.
He is also asking the court to make Wike and Channels Television retract the claims, remove the broadcast from all platforms, and publish an apology on Channels Television and in at least five national newspapers.
He also wants a permanent court order stopping the defendants from making more defamatory remarks about him.
The court has given the defendants twenty-one days to respond after they receive the notice.