The legal team of Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections, has given Mr. Bayo Onanuga, the Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, a 72-hour ultimatum to retract his defamatory statement, apologize publicly, and pay N5 billion in damages.
Obi’s counsel, Chief Alex Ejesieme, SAN, stated that Onanuga’s allegation linking Obi to the planned mass protest scheduled for August is false and has maligned his reputation.
The statement, made on July 20, 2024, claimed that Obi’s supporters were planning mayhem in Nigeria and that Obi should be held responsible for anarchy.
The legal team argued that the publication has caused serious emotional injury to Obi, given his decades of stellar stewardship in private and public life. They demanded a retraction of the statement, an unreserved apology in four national dailies (Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch, and The Cable), and N5 billion in damages.
“Our client is also making an unequivocal demand for the monetary damage of N5b 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 counsel wrote.