• Threatens legal action
Presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 General Elections, Peter Obi, has threatened legal action against the Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to the President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, over alleged allegation he spearheaded against him, accusing him of being the brain behind the planned EndBadGovernance protest.
He also demanded that Onanuga retract his “wild allegation” linking him to the mass protest being planned for August.
Recall that the presidential spokesperson had on July 20, 2024, claimed in his X handle @aonanuga1956 that “Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria and that Obi should be held responsible for anarchy.”
Obi, writing through his counsel, Chief Alex Ejesieme, SAN, of the MADIBA Chambers, said the allegation, which was widely published on social and mainstream media and read by many within and outside the country, maligned his hard-earned reputation portraying him as a man, who indulged in violence, while all his antecedents showed abhorred violence even in the face of extreme provocation.
“It’s our client’s conviction that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass him in the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society.”
The letter added that the allegation might have achieved its motive by making well-wishers from all around the globe to reach Obi to register their shock.
“His appellation as ‘Okwute’ (the Rock) notwithstanding, the demeaning and scandalous publication has also caused a serious emotional injury to our client, given his decades of stellar stewardship in private and public life.
“Consequently, we have our clients mandate to demand that you retract the statement made in the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him within 72 hours of the receipt of this letter in not less than four national dailies to wit: Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch and The Cable, including your verified X“@aonanuga1956.
“Our client is also making an unequivocal demand for the monetary damage of N5 billion for the embarrassment your defamatory publication has caused him and his family.”
The letter warned: “In the event of your failure to meet the demands set out above, our client shall be constrained to approach a court of competent jurisdiction and take legal action against you for defamation and libel.”
