Ex-EDHA Speaker Demands N500m From Former APC Secretary For Alleged Defamation

Immediate past Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Hon. Kabiru Adjoto, has demanded five hundred million naira compensation from the allegedly suspended Secretary of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Lawrence Okah, for alleged defamation.

A petition signed by his counsel, Ray Okezie, which was made available to newsmen in Benin City on Wednesday, alleged that the suspended secretary had on Wednesday 11, 2019, used three national media outfits to maliciously defame the former speaker in their various publications.

He alleged that the publications have brought his name and character to disrepute as well as exposed him to public ridicule

The former speaker also alleged that the publications have caused members of the public who read the said publications to perceive him as a thug, a killer and a very violent person.

Adjoto also alleged that the publications have caused members of the public who read the said publications to perceive him as a thug, a killer and a very violent person.

The petition reads in part, “Our client attention has been drawn to a publication in three national dailies of Wednesday December 11, 2019 in which you maliciously uttered the following words against the respected person of our client.

“We are aware that the state government has recruited the services of Yusuf and Adjoto to recruit these armed thugs. They have been mandated to disrupt the scheduled rally by importing armed thugs from Kogi and Delta states”, he said.

The former speaker who demanded an unreserved apology from the embattled Secretary within seven days, threatened to institute a legal action against Okah he refuses to make retraction.