Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on information and strategy, has stated he is not afraid of any legal action from Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra State.
News About Nigeria reports that this statement comes in response to a 72-hour ultimatum issued by Obi demanding a retraction of Onanuga’s alleged defamatory comments.
Onanuga had accused supporters of Obi of being behind the proposed nationwide protest against economic hardship in Nigeria.
In a letter from Obi’s lawyer, Alex Ejesieme, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Obi demanded a public apology published in four national newspapers and N5 billion in damages for what he termed “widespread defamation and libel.”
Reports indicate that a youth-led nationwide protest, prompted by the rising cost of living and economic hardship, is slated for August 1 to 15.
Onanuga alleged that the organisers of the planned protest were the same people who “hijacked” the #ENDSARS protest in 2020.
“Obi should be held responsible for anarchy. Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action,” Onanuga wrote on X.
Obi argued that the allegation, which gained traction on social and mainstream media, maligned his reputation and painted him as a man who indulges in violence.
“It’s our client’s conviction that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate, and embarrass him by the estimation of every right-thinking member of society,” the letter stated.
In response, Onanuga took to his X account, stating, “I am still waiting for the letter from Peter Obi’s lawyer threatening a N5 billion suit and demanding an apology to Peter Obi over the planned ‘revolution’. Let me just tell Obi and his lawyer: I am not afraid of any legal action. We shall meet in court.”
