Lai Mohammed files N500m suit against Metuh for alleged defamation

The spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed has instituted a N500 million suit against his counterpart, Chief OlisaMetuh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for alleged defamation.

The matter was filed at a Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja over an allegation that a press statement authored and circulated on by Metuh on September 20, 2015 was to defame him.

He alleged that PDP spokesperson had in the said statement claimed that he (Mohammed) embezzled the funds meant for fencing an airport in one of the APC-controlled states in the South-West.

He also claimed that Metuh said he (Mohammed) obtained money to supply ambulances to one APC-controlled state in the South-West but never did so.
In the statement, Metuh was said to have allegedly wondered where Mohammed then 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 claimed that the statement credited to Metuh was carefully calculated to damage his reputation and to lessen him in the estimation of the public.

The portion of the said statementattributed to Metuh read that “…our final word for the APC spokesman on this, is that being ethically challenged, includes embezzling funds meant for fencing an airport in an APC-led South-West state.

“It also includes when one fraudulently refuses to supply ambulances after collecting monies from another APC South-West state.

“It is a comedy of roles when Alhaji Lai Mohammed speaks on corruption, a topic he practices and has well learnt, being a personal aide to one of the most corrupt politicians to ever bestride the political landscape of the country.”

The APC spokesman claimed that Metuh had injured his character in a grave manner and caused him considerable reputational destruction and embarrassment.
He 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.

However, Mohammed quoted Etiaba to have also referred to an earlier statement where Mohammed also attacked Metuh by stating that “the allegations of corruption hanging on his (Metuh) neck, from within his own party, is a clear indication that he is mortally afraid that the wind will soon blow hard enough to expose the fowl’s rump…”

Mohammed, however, insisted that he made the said statement based on a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) written against Metuh on July 15, 2015 by the PDP, Nkwelle-Ezunaka Ward 1, in the Oyi Local Government chapter of Anambra State.

Mohammed therefore is praying for 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.