The Federal Capital Territory High Court has issued a contempt warning against a former Abia State Commissioner for Information, Barr. Eze Chikamnayo, over alleged violation of a restraining order in the N100bn defamation suit filed by Governor Alex Otti.
The court, on Monday, granted an ex parte application filed by Otti’s legal team led by Dr. Sonny Ajala, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, urging the court’s registrar to issue and serve Form 87 on Chikamnayo for allegedly continuing to publish defamatory content on the Facebook page ‘Iyierioba Chikamnayo’ despite a December 18, 2025, injunction order.
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Form 87 is a notice to show cause why an order of attachment or committal to prison should not be made against a default party.
It serves as a final warning and requires the defaulting party to appear in court and explain why they should not be imprisoned or have their assets attached due to contempt of court.
However, Chikamnayo’s counsel, S.M. Oluebube, who appeared for the defendant at the resumed sitting, served a statement of defence denying ownership of the said Facebook page and filed a motion seeking to strike out the suit on technical grounds.
Ajala had informed the court that despite the interlocutory injunction granted on December 18, 2025, restraining Chikamnayo “from further writing and publication of contents defamatory of the Claimant on the Defendant’s Facebook Wall, ‘Iyierioba Chikamnayo,” the defendant allegedly sustained his publications.
According to court documents seen by THE WHISTLER, the governor’s legal team presented eight exhibits showing publications made between December 19 and 25, 2025.
They included posts captioned: “Otthief is a confirmed despot lacking democratic temperament” on December 19, 2025; “ottihief said: my mission is to recapitalize zignature bank & leave politics” on December 20, 2025; “Alex ottihief must be held accountable! abians cannot be cowed!!!!” on December 21, 2025; “Alex ottihief, where are the smart schools built with now over 82 billions?” on December 24, 2025; and “Abia lgas: no grading of rural roads for xmas = ottihief tufiakwa” on December 25, 2025.
An affidavit in support of the ex parte motion deposed by Favour Emmanuel of Deeplaw Associates stated that the restraining order was served on Chikamnayo on the same day it was made (December 18, 2025) via his Facebook wall and phone/WhatsApp number (withheld).
The affidavit further stated: “That the Defendant/Respondent is fully aware and had knowledge of the restraining Order of the Honourable Court made on 18/12/2025 is evidenced in the traffics of comments to the Defendant/Respondent’s online publication of 19/12/2025 on his Facebook Wall such as ‘They are celebrating that court bar Eze Chikamnayo from writing against Alex Otti, nonsense people’ by Nwogu Chinedu; ‘You too much irrespective of the court Order Dr. Alex Otti aka star studded squad bought against you’ by Uchenna Uzoije.”
Granting the ex parte application, the court noted that “whoever is sustaining the online publications in spite of the order of injunction made by the court on 18/12/2025 should be put on notice of the consequences of disobedience to court order.”
Meanwhile, in his defence, Chikamnayo denied operating the Facebook page ‘Iyierioba Chikamnayo.’
The defence stated: “The defendant avers that he has never owned and or publish any online publication on a Facebook wall. Iyierioba Chikamnayo.
“The defendant avers that he is not same person as ‘Iyierioba Chikamnayo’ and did not own any Facebook wall called Iyierioba Chikamnayo or made any publication offensive and or injurious to the claimant.”
The defence added, “The defendant further avers that though the phone number [withheld] once belonged to him, but the said phone number and phone were stolen long ago and the defendant was no longer in possession of same and could not have received the alleged letters purportedly sent to him through the said phone number.”
Chikamnayo’s counsel, therefore, asked the court to strike out the writ on the ground that Governor Otti did not personally sign the pre-action certificate.
The defence further stated: “The defendant shall contest that the pre-action counselling certificate filed by the claimant along with the writ is incompetent, hence the writ of the claimant constitutes an abuse of court process, incompetent and affected the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court.”
However, Ajala contended that the defendant’s application, having just been served that day, was not ripe for hearing in line with order 30 of the court’s rule.
The court and counsel to the defendant agreed with the position.
THE WHISTLER recalls that Governor Otti filed the defamation suit on October 8, 2025, following a demand letter dated October 2, 2025, in which Ajala requested that Chikamnayo retract offensive publications against his client and apologise within seven days.
When Chikamnayo failed to comply with the ultimatum, Governor Otti instituted the suit seeking N100bn in damages “for the loss of reputation, psychological and emotional trauma suffered by the Claimant owing to the falsehood and malicious online publications of contents defamatory of the Claimant.”
On December 18, 2025, the court granted an interlocutory injunction restraining Chikamnayo from “writing, authoring, sharing, circulating, broadcasting, voicing, forwarding and/or syndicating the writing and publication of contents defamatory of the Claimant on the Defendant’s Facebook wall ‘Iyierioba Chikamnayo’ and/or any other social/digital media platform such as X, Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp, Tiktok, including the traditional media to wit: the newspaper houses, the radio and television pending the determination of the substantive suit.”
Obanor had stated, “Having carefully considered the application and all the processes before the Court, and there being no process challenging same, I am satisfied as to the need to grant the interlocutory order sought.”
Aside from the N100bn damages, Governor Otti also wants an order directing Chikamnayo to tender an unreserved apology “for each of the cocktail of the malicious online publications” to be published on the defendant’s Facebook wall and in Thisday Newspaper, the National Ambassador Newspaper, the Punch Newspaper and the Nation Newspaper.
The court adjourned hearing in the matter to February 25, 2026, when the defendant’s motion to strike out the suit and other substantive issues will be heard.