Fayemi drags Governor's spokesman to court over alleged libel

dimeji akinloye

February 1, 2017 9:35 PM

Fayemi said Fayose's spokesman accused him (Fayemi) of illegally collecting N5bn from Ecobank for a sham road construction in Ekiti.

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr.

The Governor's media aide, Lere Olayinka, is being sued for alleged libel.

A member of the Ekiti House of Assembly, Dr. Samuel Omotoso, was also said to be joined with Olayinka in the suit.

According to Punch, in the suit filed before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Fayemi is seeking payment of N3 billion for "aggravated damages" caused him by the defendants.

Fayemi, who is also a former governor of Ekiti, said the defendants brought disrepute to his name through statements allegedly made by them on July 6, 2016, during a live programme tagged Ejiire on Ekiti State Television, which also aired on cable network, Startimes.

Fayemi alleged that the defendants, during the programme, said he (Fayemi) illegally took N1.5bn from Ekiti treasury and gave it to the then presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Muhammadu Buhari, to win the 2015 presidential election.

The Minister also accused Olayinka of saying he (Fayemi) illegally collected N5 billion from Ecobank in the name of Fountain Holdings for a sham road construction.

He said Fayose's spokesman also claimed he spent state's funds to build a private university for himself in Ghana.

Fayemi's lawyer, Rafiu Balogun, said through these alleged statements, the defendants portrayed his client as a "very corrupt public office-holder and fraudulent person who siphoned public funds at the detriment of Ekiti citizens while serving as governor."

He said this exposed his client to "public ridicule, odium, opprobrium, embarrassment and unprecedented disrepute," adding that Olayinka and Omotoso have done "incalculable and tremendous injury to our client’s image and personality as an international figure."

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According to Fayemi, he decided to sue the defendants after they refused to retract the said statement and publicly apologise as demanded by his lawyer in a letter dated November 19, 2016.

The minister urges the court to compel the defendants to retract the statement and to tender a public apology to him, to be published and aired on Ekiti State Television and Channels Television as well as on the social media.

He also wants a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing or making statements or utterances similar or further libelous publications or statements or utterances against the plaintiff.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the case.

dimeji akinloye