…demands public apology, N3bn damages
A former Governor of Ogun State , Chief Olusegun Osoba has threatened to institute a legal action against a chieftain of the Afenifere, Dr. Femi Okurounmu, for calling him a traitor and a double-faced military agent.
Osoba, through his lawyer , Wole Olanipekun ,SAN, has also demanded the payment of N3 billion damages, among others.
Osoba’s lawyers in a letter addressed to Okurounmu, accused the Afenifere chieftain of making libelous statements in two national newspapers (Daily Independent and The Sun ) against the person of the former governor.
The letter, therefore, directed Okurounmu to, within 14 days, retract the said libelous interviews in the two national newspapers, offer a public apology published on the front pages of seven consecutive editions of both newspapers with effect from Monday, July 29, 2019, as well as pay Osoba the sum of N3billion as damages for the libelous publications or risk being dragged before a court.
The letter partly reads, “Arising from the foregoing, we have the further instruction of our client to demand from you the following:
“Directing a retraction of the said interviews granted by you and published in the Daily Independent newspaper of Thursday, July 11, 2019 and the Saturday Sun newspaper of July 20, 2019;
“Public apology to our client to be published on the front pages of seven (7) consecutive editions of both newspapers, starting from Monday, 29th July, 2019;
“A sum of N3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) as damages for the said libelous publications.
“You are given fourteen (14) days from the date of this letter within which to comply with our client’s simple demands; otherwise, our final instruction is to commence proceedings against you, claiming reliefs in terms of the said demands, plus aggravated and exemplary damages.
The details of the the letter reads, ” WOC/LAG/VOL.04/008/2019
23rd July, 2019.
Senator Femi Okurounmu
No 3, Senator Femi Okuronmu Close
Oloke Junction Off Ibara GRA
Abeokuta, Ogun State.
Dear Sir,
RE: LIBELOUS PUBLICATIONS AGAINST CHIEF OLUSEGUN OSOBA, CON
We act as solicitors to Chief Olusegun Osoba, CON, hereinafter referred to as ‘our client’, and on whose instruction we write you on the above subject, particularly in relation to the interviews recently granted by you to two leading
national dailies, that is, the Daily Independent newspaper and the Saturday Sun newspaper, respectively published on Thursday, July 11, 2019 and July
20, 2019.
In your interview with the Daily Independent newspaper published on Thursday, July 11, 2019, appearing on pages 13-15, you maliciously stated and caused to be published, circulated and disseminated concerning and in
relation to our client as follows: “Those who know Osoba know that he has always been a double-faced politician. On one face, he will want people to see him as a progressive, on the other face, he is working with the security forces. Osoba has always been an agent of the security forces.
He has one leg in the military and the other leg in the progressives camp. If you have never been told that, I am telling you now. So, when he narrated what he went through in his book, of course, for anybody who is a
double agent, So, he got into trouble in the early stage of the annulment
of June 12 because he has been a close collaborator with (Ibrahim) Babangida who annulled the election. It was Babangida that sponsored Osoba’s governorship in Ogun state in 1992.
So, we all know that Osoba was a double agent. While being a close associate of Babangida, he was now pretending to be supporting MKO Abiola. That was what got him into trouble with the military.
Initially, when Abiola’s election was annulled and everybody thought it will be a short struggle for Abiola to reclaim his mandate, Osoba pretended to be with us in that struggle so that he can also benefit if Abiola eventually becomes President.
That pretense of being with us is what got him into trouble and he got etained. In fact, people like Gani Fawehinmi had to go and fight for him in court. But as soon as he realised that the struggle will not be a brief one and the
military are not prepared to handover to Abiola, he abandoned the struggle.
When the late Sani Abacha formed his five political parties, we in Afenifere decided that we will not participate in any of the five parties. Osoba was present when we took that decision but as soon as we left the place, he decamped and took his followers and they all went and joined Abacha’s
transition.
So, Osoba participated fully in Abacha’s transition in all the elections conducted from ward to local government level, Osoba’s men participated. So, he was not part of the NADECO struggle.
Osoba is a liar and traitor. He tells lie and wants to distort history because he knows he has betrayed Nigerians, he has betrayed the progressives cause and the Yoruba people. I believe that anybody who participated in Abacha’s
transition betrayed Abiola” It is as simple as that. So for a traitor, he is just trying to justify his treacherous actions and throw blames on other people. Osoba is a traitor.”
In your interview 3 published and disseminated in relation to and concerning our client, the following words: “But some people later started demanding that we should have primaries to pick candidates, that is, Afenifere leaders should hold elections to decide candidates to be picked.
Some of those who were at the front of these agitations include Segun Osoba, former governor of Ogun State, and some of these agitators including Osoba took active part in Abacha’s transition programme. Osoba was in Democratic
Party of Nigeria, DPN, one of the five political parties that adopted Abacha to transmute himself to life president of Nigeria before Abacha suddenly died.
I’m setting this record straight because I read how Osoba was distorting the origin of Afenifere crisis in SATURDAY SUN newspaper, and how he was blaming Afenifere leaders and elders. Osoba was not an original Afenifere member.
He was not initially part of the NADECO struggle. After June 12 annulment by the military and sack of the Interim National Government, ING headed by Ernest Shonekan when everybody thought that Abacha would hand over to
Abiola, Osoba identified with the June 12 struggle. He was even arrested for a while.
But as soon as Abacha bared his fangs, and everybody realized that pro-June 12 elements were for a long struggle, Osoba and others ran away, abandoning NADECO. By then, we had decided and taken the decision that no
NADECO and Afenifere member would take part in Abacha’s transition programme.
Osoba was one of those who disobeyed Afenifere leaders. He went and participated in Abacha’s transition programme and became a member of DPN. It was not until Abacha died that Osoba returned with his supporters to re-join
Afenifere.
All what I’m saying are facts that can be verified, and this is what I expect journalists to do. Journalists should do more of investigative journalism, if they do, they won’t be taking what Osoba has been telling them hook, line and sinker.
We even wrote a letter to the then Afenifere leader, late Pa Abraham Adesanya expressing our resolve not to take Osoba back.”
In the afore-quoted portions of your interviews in the Daily Independent and Saturday Sun newspapers, you mischievously and maliciously maligned and defamed our client by labelling him, amongst others, as “a double-faced
politician”; one who has “one leg in the military and the other leg in the progressives camp”; one who “has been a close collaborator with (Ibrahim) Babangida who annulled the election. It was Babangida that sponsored Osoba’s government in Ogun state in 1992” and “double agent”.
You went further to present him as “a liar and traitor”; one who
“tells lie and wants to distort history because he knows he has betrayed Nigerians”;
“so for a traitor, he is just trying to justify his treacherous
actions and throw blames on other people. Osoba is a traitor.”
There is no gainsaying the fact that the words employed by you in defaming our client are weighty and far reaching. In their natural and ordinary meanings, the words present our client as representing everything negative, retrogressive and treacherous. The innuendoes embedded in the said words
are clear cut, pointing and leading to your objective of parading and presenting our client to the public as one who should be treated with disdain aandcontempt. Clearly, by the said interviews and subsequent publications of same, you have not only defamed our client, but have also brought him to
public ridicule and odium. You have virtually discounted all what our client has achieved in life and rubbished his image. Your action has been actuated by malice and hatred. Our client’s hard-earned reputation has been seriously dented and damaged, while he has also suffered considerable distress and embarrassment.
Since the said publications, our client has received, and continues to receive several telephone calls, text messages, letters, mails etc., from friends, relations, associates and well wishers from within and outside Nigeria, expressing their shock, outrage and disappointment at their contents; further
questioning our client as to the integrity which he has been known for over the years, particularly in view of the statements and assertions made by you in the said publications.
Arising from the foregoing, we have the further instruction of our client to demand
5(i) Directing a retraction of the said interviews granted by you a and published in the Daily Independent newspaper of Thursday, July 11, 2019 and the Saturday Sun newspaper of July 20, 2019;
(ii) Public apology to our client to be published on the front
pages of seven (7) consecutive editions of both newspapers,
starting from Monday, 29th July, 2019;
(iii) A sum of N3,000,000,000.00 (Three Billion Naira) as damages for the said libelous publications.
You are given fourteen (14) days from the date of this letter within which to comply with our client’s simple demands; otherwise, our final instruction is to commence proceedings against you, claiming reliefs in terms of the said
demands, plus aggravated and exemplary damages.
Yours faithfully,
PP: Wole Olanipekun & Co.
Chief Wole Olanipekun, OFR, SAN
