Former Minister of State for Defence,
Senator Musiliu Obanikoro has gone to court to seek redress over a case
of defamation of character by online newspapers Sahara Reporters and
Premium Times. Joined in the suit are Punch Newspapers Ltd., Omoyele
Sowore, Publisher of Sahara Reporters and Festus Owete, General Editor
at Premium Times.
The defendants had published an audio
recording of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, purportedly in a conversation
with other individuals to rig the Ekiti State gubernatorial elections,
an allegation Senator Obanikoro and the others have since disclaimed.
In a suit filed at the Lagos State High
Court Ikeja on Tuesday, 10th February 2015, Senator Obanikoro is suing
the defendants for damages to the tune of N1 billion. According to the
suit filed on his behalf by Dr. Yemi Oke of MJS Partners, Senator
Obanikoro is seeking
“1.) An order of perpetual injunction restraining
the defendants from publishing or causing to be published either
directly or indirectly, defamatory, damaging, offensive or degrading
statements, articles and/or materials against the claimant,
2.) An order
directing the defendant to jointly or severally pay to the claimant the
sum of N1 billion being damages for harm caused to his political,
professional, business, social and institutional reputation as a result
of the defamation by willful and scandalous publication of false
statements by the defendants,
3.) An order directing the defendants to
retract the false and damaging publication by a letter of apology
directed to claimant and published on the same media through which the
defamatory publication was circulated and
4.) An order of court for the
cost of this suit against the defendants.”
Meanwhile, in a similar development,
Senator Obanikoro has hired Tacopina & Seigel one of New York’s top
law firms reputed for their groundbreaking defense of celebrity baseball
player, Alex Rodriguez in his case against the 211-game doping
suspension slammed on him by Major League Baseball (MLB). Tacopina &
Seigel is handling Senator Obanikoro’s case against Sahara Reporters in
New York, United States of America.
The defendants have 42 days to prepare their defense and make an appearance in court to defend themselves in the Lagos suit.
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