- Demands Apology Within 72 Hours
By Abiola Olawale
The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has rebuffed allegations purportedly made against him by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, to effect that Obi should be held responsible for any outbreak of protests by supporters.
There has been reports of a planned nationwide protests allegedly scheduled to commence on August 1 being spearheaded by some unnamed groups.
Obi who gave the senior presidential aide 72 hours to retract the allegations and tender a public apology said he was greatly embarrassed by the statement credited to Mr Onanuga.
Obi, a former Governor of Anambra also demanded a payment of N5 billion in damages for defamation.
Obi, through his counsel, Alex Ejesieme, in a letter addressed to Onanuga said the allegation which went viral on social and mainstream media “maligned his hard-earned reputation.”
According to the legal counsel, the publication was allegedly a calculated plot to ridicule, humiliate and embarrass in the eyes 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.
The letter reads in part: “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″
It would be recalled that in a lengthy tweet published on Onanuga’s X account on Saturday, the senior presidential aide accused the supporters of Obi of instigating a proposed nationwide protest.
Onanuga alleged that the sponsors of the protests were not democrats but anarchists.
He also maintained that the planned protest was being organised by the supporters of Obi and the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
[7:07 pm, 23/07/2024] Ambassador Of Thailand Oma Djebah: Ok
