Defamation: Peter Obi gives Onanuga 72 hours to apologise, demands N5bn as damages

The Labour Party, LP, presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections, Peter Obi has given the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Communication and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, 72 hours to pay N5bn damages for defamation.

Obi also demanded that Onanuga tender a public apology published in four national newspapers over the widespread defamation and libel or face legal action.

The former Anambra State Governor demanded that Mr Onanuga retract his wild allegation, linking him to the planned mass protest scheduled for August.

Onanuga had on July 20, 2024, via his X handle @aonanuga1956, said that Peter Ob’s supporters were planning mayhem in Nigeria, stressing that Obi should be held responsible for anarchy.

Reacting to the allegation, Obi, through his counsel, Alex Ejesieme, said the allegation which went viral on social and mainstream media and read by many within and outside the country, maligned his hard-earned reputation.

He added that the allegation dented his image as a man who indulges in violence when all his antecedents are vivid and that he abhors violence even in the face of extreme provocation.

According to the legal counsel, the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass Peter Obi by the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society.

The legal counsel said the allegation may have achieved its insipid motive as well-wishers from all around the globe have inundated Obi 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.

“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 4 National Dailies to wit: Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch and the Cable, including your verified X“@aonanuga1956.