Betta Edu, the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, has vowed to take legal action against the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over what she claims to be defamatory reporting.
Betta Edu made the threat through her legal representative, Chikaosolu Ojukwu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), News About Nigeria reports.
She has demanded compensation of $50 million from the BBC, accusing the media outlet of spreading false information.
In a letter addressed to both the BBC’s Abuja and London offices, Edu’s lawyer disputed the BBC’s coverage of the ongoing investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The BBC had alleged that N30 billion was recovered from the suspended minister, a claim Edu and her legal team have denied.
The letter added that there has been significant harm caused to Edu’s reputation and mental well-being as a result of the BBC’s publication.
It criticised the BBC for implying Edu’s guilt without providing her the opportunity to defend herself, thereby breaching journalistic standards of fairness and due process.
The letter reads in part, “For the avoidance of doubt, our client has neither been indicted nor found culpable of any act of financial impropriety in relation to her stewardship of the Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation Ministry in Nigeria.
“It is also pertinent to emphasise that neither N30 billion nor any amount whatsoever has been traced to or recovered from our client’s bank accounts nor has any proceeds of crime been traced or recovered from her to warrant the scurrilous article under reference.
“Suffice it to say that in the aftermath of the publication of this scandalous article (which the BBC caused to be disseminated to millions of persons across the globe), our client has been inundated by calls and messages from friends, associates expressing their shock and consternation.
“Our client has suffered immeasurable reputational damage, psychological trauma and anguish as a direct consequence of the publication and dissemination of the article.”
The controversy surrounding the suspended minister reached a peak earlier this year when President Bola Tinubu suspended her from office amidst allegations of misappropriation of N585 million.
Tinubu also directed a comprehensive inquiry into the alleged scandal
Edu had instructed the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr. Oluwatoyin Madein, to pay N585 million into the private bank account of a project accountant in her ministry, Bridget Oniyelu.
Defending herself when the memo of her directive went public, the minister claimed that the N585 million payment was meant for vulnerable groups in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ogun, and Lagos states.
