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Court orders activist to cough out N5.5million damages to Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer
Emeka Ugwuonye, an outspoken lawyer and Executive Director of Due Process Advocate (DPA), is to cough out N5.5million as compensation to Ifeanyi Ejiofor, lawyer to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) for damaging his name.
Justice Njideka Nwosu-Iheme of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who slammed the penalty, also granted a perpetual injunction restraining Ugwuonye, his agents, associates, privies, and/or proxies howsoever called, from further carrying out any libelous publication against Ejiofor.
In a suit marked CV/535/2022, before the court, Ejiofor, had demanded N5.1billion after complaining of alleged defamatory publication, one of which was said to have been published and circulated to third parties on the Internet on February 5, 2022, and continued till February 8, 2022, including alleging that “Ejiofor was facing serious investigation for fraud and forgery by the EFCC.”
Approaching the court, Ejiofor, had prayed for: “A declaration that the publications variously made by the defendant of and concerning the claimant, on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th of February, 2022, the particulars of which are contained in the statement of claim, are defamatory of the claimant.
“An order of the Honourable Court directing the defendant to forthwith publish a full retraction of the utterly libelous publications and an unqualified apology to the claimant in at least three national Newspapers with nationwide circulation.
“An order of the Honourable Court directing the defendant to forthwith publish a written undertaking not to publish any similar or further libel of and concerning the claimant.
“A perpetual order of injunction restraining the defendant, his agents, associates, privies, and/or proxies howsoever called, from publishing any similar or further libel of and concerning the claimant.
“The sum of N5,000,000,000:00 (Five Billion Naira Only) as general and exemplary damages. The sum of N100,000,000:00 (Hundred Million Naira Only) being the cost of this action.”
Justice Nwosu-Iheme in the judgement obtained by journalists in Abuja on Tuesday ordered that the publications variously made by the defendant concerning Ejiofor on February 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 2022, the particulars of which were contained in the statement of claim, were defamatory.
The court also ordered the defendant (Emeka Ugwuonye) to forthwith publish a full retraction of the utterly libelous publications apology to the claimant (Sir ifeanyi Ejiofor) in at least three national Newspapers with nationwide circulation, including PUNCH, Daily Times, and PREMIUM TIMES.
The defendant was also ordered to forthwith publish a written undertaking not to publish any similar or further libel of and concerning the claimant.
Other orders made by the court included, “Perpetual injunction restraining the defendant (Emeka Ugwuonye) his agents, associates, privies and/or proxies howsoever called, from publishing any similar or further libel of and concerning the Claimant (Sir Ejiofor).
“The sum of N5 million only as general and exemplary damages. The sum of N500 thousand being the cost of this action.”
Reacting to the judgement, Ejiofor said: “Be rest assured that this judgment shall be executed to the letter. I immensely thank my colleagues in chambers and Barrister Maxwell Opara, who worked assiduously to secure this victory.
“Ugwuonye’s ilks, including a certain lawyer in America who ought to have known better, are by this publication put on notice that- it does not matter who you are or whom you’re affiliated with or where you are; it is only a matter of time. But I shall ensure that the long arm of the law catches up with you, and you shall definitely pay for the irreparable damages caused.
“Now that I am done with the civil proceedings in the instant case, I shall now proceed with criminal proceedings against the said cyberstalkers pursuant to the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act 2015.
“If you are courageous enough to commit a crime, you should also be courageous enough to face the inescapable consequences of your actions. The other suits I initiated against some of these social media noisemakers are ongoing, and upon the conclusion of same, I shall make the necessary update(s).”
Chidi Odinkalu, Nigeria’s fiery lawyer, law teacher and former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), is emphatic that President Bola Tinubu is pushing to perpetuate himself in office, beginning with gaming the electoral process in 2027.
Odinkalu, Professor of Practice in International Human Rights Law at the Fletcher School, told his host Naija Unfiltered, a popular Nigerian podcast programme, that he was as sure as death that the President would not exit office in 2031, if he succeeded with his current gambit to remain in power beyond next year.
Hear him: “Yes. But as I said, let me repeat myself. There’ll be a third term. President Tinubu has not done all of this just for another four years. There will be a third term. And anybody who is doing, ‘it is not our portion,’ is not reading the evidence.”
To achieve this aim, the activist, who was also emphatic that the National Assembly, would play a role, added: “The current National Assembly is anything but national or an assembly. And if it’s an assembly, it’s not a parliamentary one. Many people have called it a rubber stamp, but I think that is actually abusive of rubber stamps. I think this National Assembly is a disgrace.
Citing how bizarre and completely compliant the national legislature had become to Tinubu, the ex-NHRC’s boss, stated: “If you can change your national anthem in less than 24 hours with no public hearing, no public consultation, no public involvement, it tells you you don’t have a country because a national anthem is fundamental to the construction of a national identity.”
Also referring to the current move by the President to introduce state police, Odinkalu, wondered how the Nigerian Senate would introduce the bill to that effect and proceed towards the first and second readings, as well as committee stage and passage in less than two hours, questioning how that was possible in normal clime.
Hear him: “Once we finish our elections, we’re going to amend our Constitution, introduce a single six-year presidential term. The current incumbent will be elected until 2031. In 2031, what will happen? The question will be, will he be entitled to run on the six-year term or will he not?
“You will then get the best Senior Advocates in Nigeria telling you the law is not retrospective. That is why the administration is supporting the litigation over President Jonathan’s tenure—not because the Constitution is not clear, but because they will say there is precedent. There will be a third term, and I’m prepared to bet on it.”
“If we continue to pay ransom, we are encouraging these criminals to kidnap more people. The cycle will only continue unless we stop rewarding criminality,” were the words of Dauda Lawal, Governor of Zamfara State, with which he blamed those in the habit of paying ransoms as the major factor fuelling the current wave of kidnapping incidents across the country.
Lawal, on Thursday at the ARISE News/THISDAY Town Hall Conference on State Police and National Security in Abuja, told his audience how he flatly refused to pay a ₦300 million ransom demanded by kidnappers who abducted his brothers in 2019.
Reiterating his opposition to negotiating with bandits and renewed his support for the establishment of state police, Lawal, while recounting the incident, said: “My own brothers were kidnapped in 2019, and the kidnappers demanded about ₦300 million. I told them I was not going to pay a dime. If they wanted to kill them, they could go ahead.”
Stating that his brothers were eventually released without any ransom being paid, he argued that paying ransom usually emboldened criminal groups by providing financial incentives for further kidnappings.
He added: “My position on ransom payments remains unchanged. I will not negotiate, and I will not pay ransom to any criminal, no matter what happens.”
Endorsing the move for the establishment of state police, to enable governors have greater operational authority over security within their states, he regretted that the current constitutional arrangement left governors with responsibility for security without corresponding powers to direct security agencies.
His words: “In as much as I am called the chief security officer of the state, I do not have the command-and-control authority to direct the operations of the security agencies. I’m prepared to support the funding of state police if the proposed policing structure is established. I’m confident that decentralised policing will improve intelligence gathering, response time and the overall fight against insecurity.”
Exactly seven years, two months and four days after he forced Walter Onnoghen, the 16th Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) out of office, Danladi Umar, former Chairman of the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), on Thursday, found himself in Kuje prison.
Justice Peter Kekemeke, of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), sitting in Maitama, handed the ex-CCT boss the unwelcome package on Thursday, following his arraignment by the Federal Government on a four-count corruption charge.
Umar’s ordeal began after an investigations revealed that he abused his official position by conferring an undue advantage on himself while serving as head of the tribunal, having in 2021, reportedly using his wife’s bank account to collect the sum of N5.5 million from a contractor engaged to paint the headquarters of the CCT in Abuja.
He was also accuse of using the same account to collect another N6million on January 25, 2024, from a contractor who handled the digitisation of the CCT’s records and yet another N2.43 million a contractor paid as tuition fee of his daughter at Baze University, Abuja.
After pleading not guilty to offences, said to be punishable under section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000, Christopher Mshelia, lawyer to the FG, prosecuting the matter, applied for his remand in a correctional facility, while urging the court to set a date for the commencement of trial.
His pleas to be freed on bail pending the determination of the case, was opposed by the prosecution, which drew the court’s attention to the fact that it had just been served with the bail application, saying it needed time to respond to it, forcing Kekemeke to adjourn the case till July 15 for hearing while the former CCT boss remained behind bars.
Umar, had as CCT Chairman, on January 23, 2019, issued a controversial ex parte order that led to the removal of a serving Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen.
Following the ex parte order, the late President Muhammadu Buhari, on January 25, swore in the next most senior jurist of the Supreme Court, Justice Tanko Muhammad, to take over the leadership of the judiciary as Acting CJN.
Even though Onnoghen later voluntarily resigned his position as CJN on April 4, Umar went ahead and convicted him on April 18, 2019, on the federal government’s allegation that he had failed to properly declare his assets as required by law.
He gave the federal government the go-ahead to confiscate all monies in five accounts belonging to the former CJN, and also removed him as Chairman of both the NJC and the Federal Judiciary Service Commission (FJSC).
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