Governor threatens N5bn defamation lawsuit over alleged video in plot to bomb INEC’s office
Governor Ademola Adeleke has announced plans to file a defamation lawsuit against Kola Olabisi, the Media Director for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State.
In a statement released by his spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke revealed that he has instructed his lawyers to seek N5 billion in damages due to a defamatory remark made by the APC.
The controversy began when Olabisi accused the governor of being involved in the production of a viral video that featured a purported PDP leader threatening to bomb the state electoral commission and harm its officials.
Olabisi also called for an investigation and prosecution of PDP leaders, including Adeleke, for allegedly orchestrating the release of the video.
Adeleke condemned these allegations as baseless and irresponsible, demanding that Olabisi retract his statements or face legal consequences.
The statement reads: “The allegation is reprehensible, baseless and defamatory. Mr Governor has ordered his lawyers to review the situation and demand retraction as the Governor did not and has not in any way planned or plot any attack on either INEC or any electoral official.
“Upon failure to retract the offensive publication, the state director faces a potential libel suit with a demand for five billion naira damages. This deliberate falsehood will have consequences.
“As much as we understand that Governor Adeleke’s superlative performance is driving many Osun APC leaders crazy, it is the height of insensitivity and irresponsibility to level such grievous allegations against a state Governor widely known as a man of peace across party lines.”
In a statement signed by Olabisi, he urged Inspector General of Police Kayode Egbetokun to investigate an alleged plot by certain unidentified Osun PDP leaders to bomb the Osun State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
APC’s Olabisi said: “It was bizarre that close to one week that the wicked video message has gone viral, neither Governor Adeleke nor the leadership of the ruling party, has deemed it fit to condemn the issue which is a good ground to suspect the complicity of the governor and his cohorts in the unsavoury development.
“It should be expressly registered in the dictionary of the PDP leaders and governor in the state that there is no permanent champion and that what is permanent in life arrangement is change itself.
“Why is Governor Adeleke and his co-travellers afraid of losing the election when it was apparent that it was a party that lost to the PDP and the heavens did not fall? In a similar manner, when Governor Adeleke loses the forthcoming governorship election, the heavens would also not cave in?
“It is worthwhile to remind the statutory security agencies in the state that they are too placid with the issue of the plans of the anonymous PDP chieftain to cause maximum cataclysm in the state.
“If the PDP promoters of violence should be allowed to act according to their threat, it would be on record that a clarion call was earlier made to the security agencies in this regard. Prevention is far, far better than cure.”
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