The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 2023 general elections, Mr. Peter Obi, has demanded from the Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to the President, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, a retraction of his ‘wild’ allegation that the former Anambra Governor is behind the nationwide mass protest being planned to commence August 1.
Onanuga had, on the 20th of this month claimed in his X handle @aonanuga1956 that Peter Ob’s supporters were 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 in social and mainstream media, and read by many within and outside the country, maligned him as a man of violence even against the backdrop of vivid antecedents that he abhors 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 by the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society,” Obi wrote, adding that the allegation might have achieved its insipid motive as well-wishers from all around the globe had inundated Obi with calls and messages 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,” the letter continued.
“Consequently, we have our client’s 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.”
“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,” the letter surmised.
