Ministerial nominee, 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.
Continue below to read the full report from Tribune, plus you can’t guess
the top New York firm that will be battling it with Sahara Reporters in New
York.
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 election, an allegation Senator Obanikoro and the
others had since disclaimed.
In a suit filed at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, on
Tuesday, February 10, 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 “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.
“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.
“An order directing the defendants to retract the false and
damaging publication by a letter of apology directed to the claimant and
published on the same media through which the defamatory publication was
circulated and
“An order of court for the cost of this suit against the
defendants.”
In a similar development, Senator Obanikoro has hired
Tacopina & Seigel, one of New York’s top law firms reputed for their
groundbreaking defence 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.
The defendants have 42 days to prepare their defence and make an appearance in court to defend themselves in the Lagos suit.
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