Ex Enugu Speaker threatens to sue state APC chairman over alleged defamation

The Former Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo, has threatened to file a suit against the Enugu State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Ben Nwoye over alleged defamation.

This is contained in a press release from Odo’s lawyer, Mr Ochianya Ozor in Enugu on Friday.

In the statement entitled ‘‘Notice to Sue for Defamation’’, Odo demanded a public and recorded apology from the Chairman before August 20, 2021 or face Defamation charges.

Ozor alleged that the party chairman while addressing party faithful in the state on Aug.3 openly denigrated the reputation of his client when he referred to him as a thief with the following statements.

‘’The thief who attempted to steal our democratic process is also a Wawa man, in our place.

‘’Today is not the day he started, because when Sullivan Chime was sick, was not feeling well, even though he was a great governor, going towards the end of his term, the same thief connived with some members of the Enugu State House of Assembly and attempted to disgrace a wonderful strong serving governor.

“They attempted to impeach him two times and he was disgraced; that was a case of back to sender,”.

The counsel said it was not difficult for any right thinking/ordinary person, and there were many of them in that assembly, to know that “your innuendoes were referring to our client.

“You called him a thief severally and accused him of attempts to truncate our democratic process.

“The description you made are calculated to lower our client in the estimation of right thinking men, cause him to be shunned or avoided. You exposed our client to hatred, contempt and ridicule.

“You intentionally conveyed an imputation on him which is disparaging and injurious to him in his profession as a lawyer and in his calling as a politician.

“By your utterances before a mammoth crowd of party faithful, you indeed tarnished our client’s image and brought him to odium and opprobrium, as the crowd was chorusing thief! Thief!! and more disparaging words as you rained vituperations on our client.

“You are aware that none of the appellations “thief” nor “steal our democratic process” is true or identifiable with our client. To make matters worse, the video clips of slanderous utterances against our client has gone viral.

“Since then, it has become a refrain for your supporters to refer to our client as a thief on the party’s Whatsapp platform.

“We are by this letter demanding that you summon a similar meeting of the party members as the one of Aug. 3 and in the proposed meeting you will repudiate your utterances against our client and also render a videoed apology to our client for this incalculable damages you have caused his hard earned reputation.

“Take further notice that if by close of work on Aug. 20 aforesaid and you are yet to comply with the foregoing demands, we have a further instruction from our client to take out a writ against you to claim the sum of N1 billion only against you as damages for this slander. A stitch in time saves nine,’’ he said.

NAN reports that all effort to get the party chairman to react failed as his phone was switched off.