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| Lai Mohammed |
The National Publicity Secretary of the
All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Monday filed a N500m
defamation suit against his counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party,
Chief Olisa Metuh.
Mohammed claimed he was defamed by a press release said to be authored and circulated by Metuh on September 20, 2015.
The APC spokesman said Metuh had in the
said release stated that he (Mohammed) embezzled the funds meant for the
fencing of an airport in one of the APC-controlled states in the
South-West.
Mohammed also claimed that Metuh said he
(Mohammed) obtained money to supply ambulances to one APC-controlled
state in the South-West but never executed the contract.
Metuh had, in the said statement,
allegedly wondered where Mohammed got the courage to speak on corruption
when indeed the APC spokesman had mastered the art of corruption,
having been “a personal aide to one of the most corrupt politicians to
ever bestride the political space of the country.”
Mohammed, who said he was a one-time
coordinator of the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation, claimed that
the statement credited to Metuh was carefully calculated to inflict
damage on his reputation and to lessen him in the estimation of the
public.
He claimed that Metuh had injured his
character in a grave manner and caused him considerable reputational
destruction and embarrassment.
The APC spokesman, who is also a
ministerial nominee, claimed that Metuh’s lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN),
had in a letter dated September 25, 2015 to the claimant’s lawyer, Wahab
Shittu, admitted authoring the statement but denied that it was
Mohammed that was being referred to.
Mohammed is seeking an order mandating
Metuh to not only retract his statement but to also tender published
apology to him in a widely read newspaper for seven consecutive days.
He is also seeking an order of perpetual
injunction restraining Metuh and his privies from further publishing or
disseminating libellous materials against him.
The suit, which was filed on Monday at the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja, has yet to be assigned to any judge for hearing.
Punch
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