Presidential candidate of the Labour Get together within the 2023 normal elections, Mr Peter Obi has demanded a retraction of an allegation made towards him by the Particular Adviser on Communication and Technique to the President, Mr. Bayo Onanuga or face a N5 billion naira court docket case on defamation and libel.
Recall that the presidential aide had on July 20, 2024, claimed in his X deal with (previously Twitter) @aonanuga1956 accusing, “ Peter Ob’s supporters are the folks planning mayhem in Nigeria and that Obi ought to be held answerable for anarchy.”
The previous LP presidential candidate mentioned it was unthinkable that he can be linked as somebody behind the deliberate mass protest scheduled for August by Onanuga.
Writing by way of his counsel, Chief Alex Ejesieme, SAN of the MADIBA Chambers, Obi mentioned the allegation which was extensively revealed on social and mainstream media and browse by many inside and out of doors the nation, maligned his hard-earned fame as a person who indulges in violence when all his antecedents are vivid that he abhors violence even within the face of maximum provocation.
“It’s our shopper’s conviction that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass him by the estimation of each right-thinking member of the society,” Ejesieme mentioned.
The letter continued, that the allegation might have achieved its insipid motive as well-wishers from throughout the globe have inundated Obi to register their shock.
“His appellation as ‘Okwute’ (the Rock) however, the demeaning and scandalous publication has additionally brought on a severe emotional damage to our shopper given his a long time of stellar stewardship in personal and public life.
“Consequently, we now have our shopper’s mandate to demand that you just retract the assertion made within the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him inside 72 hours of the receipt of this letter in not lower than 4 Nationwide Dailies to wit: Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch and the Cable, together with your verified X“@aonanuga1956.
“Our shopper can also be making an unequivocal demand for the financial harm of N5b for the embarrassment your defamatory publication has brought on him and his household,” Ejesieme wrote.
The letter nonetheless added that, “Within the occasion of your failure to satisfy the calls for set out above, our shopper shall be constrained to method a court docket of competent jurisdiction and take authorized motion towards you for defamation and libel.”
