The Opposition says it welcomes any defamation case from the Finance and Treasury Minister, Gordon Darcy Lilo.

Mr Lilo legal had earlier threatened legal action against the Opposition Leader, Transparency Solomon Islands and the Island Sun Newspaper.

"They must present evidence that I received bribes from Haizhen Trading Company or face a defamation case," said Mr Lilo.

The Opposition Leader says that the defamation challenge "holds no substance and that it only confirms Minister Lilo's ongoing tactic of dodging the real issues to drum up public support."

The Opposition Leader also maintains he will be forwarding the matter to the Leadership Code Commission.

He says officers of the Opposition office are working on the complaint and that in view of the amount of details in the public domain, the Leadership Code Commission must be approached to investigate the matter.