ALLEGED TREASURY LOOTERS’ LIST: SECONDUS SUES LAI MOHAMMAD FOR DEFAMATION
ALLEGED
TREASURY LOOTERS’ LIST: SECONDUS SUES LAI MOHAMMAD FOR DEFAMATION
The
National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Uche Secondus has made
good his threat to drag the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, to court for defamation of character.
The
Minister had mentioned Secondus in the list of those he claimed looted the
nation’s treasury alleging that he collected N200 million from the former
National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, but an embarrassed Secondus who said
he never collected a dime from the former NSA through his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba,
wrote to the Minister few days back, seeking the immediate removal of the PDP
Chairman’s name from the list, payment of N1.5 billion damages and public
apology within 48 hours.
The
letter told Mohammad to note that if he failed to meet their demands after 48
hours, “We shall within 72 hours from today, proceed to a court of
competent jurisdiction to ventilate our clients right under the law and shall
further seek the protection of the court against you”
A
statement issued yesterday by Secondus’ Special Assistant on Media, Ike Abonyi,
said: “Having failed to meet the demand, Prince Secondus on Friday April
6,2018, made good his threat and filed a suit at the Port Harcourt, High Court,
Rivers State, claiming among other things, that the court awards to him the sum
of N1.5b being damages for humiliation, castigation, vilification attack on his
person and integrity as a result of the publication.
Secondus
in the suit no/PHC/1013/2018 is also claiming that Lai Mohammad’s publication
is defamatory and is asking the court to direct him to retract the said
publication and apologise in writing.
He is
also asking Mohammed to publish the retraction and apology in all the social
media including but not limited to the Following newspapers: The Nation,
THISDAY, The Sun, Guardian and Punch as well as in the following television
stations: Channels and NTA, among others, where the defammatory story was
published.
Secondus
is also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant
from further publishing defamatory materials against him.
Joined
in the suit are the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Attorney General
of the federation and the Vintage Press ltd, publishers of the Nation
Newspapers.
Dokpesi
Demands Apology, N500m
Chairman
of Daar Communications, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi has demanded an apology and
the payment of N500 million from the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed for calling him a looter of government treasury.
The
notice from Chief Dokpesi’s lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, dated 4th April,
2018, specifically demanded an “apology and retraction of defamatory
statement/publication against the person of High Chief (Dr) Raymond Alegho
Dokpesi (OFR).”
The
lawyer said the minister’s apology should be published in four national
dailies, “to wit, The Punch, THISDAY, The Nation and the Sun Newspapers.
“That
you pay to our client through this Chambers, the sum of N500,000,000.00 (Five
hundred million Naira) only, representing minimal damages.”
That
unless the minister carried out the above minimal demands immediately, he would
sue without further notice.