Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Enugu State, Dr. Peter Mbah, has instituted a libel suit against the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Ugochukwu Agballah, and a national newspaper (not The Guardian).

Court processes by Mbah’s lawyers say the statement and publication by the defendants were “calculated to lower the claimant (Mbah) in the estimation of right thinking members of the society; isolate claimant from the society; expose him to hatred, contempt and ridicule; cause other persons to shun or avoid and discredit him in matters of his business and political engagements.”

Mbah is, therefore, demanding the sum of N1 billion as general damages for the said libelous publication.

In the lawsuit marked, E/25/2023, filed before the Enugu State High Court, Mbah accused Agballah and publishers of the report of false and malicious publication about his person in the May 30, 2022, online edition of the newspaper.

In a statement of claim by his lawyers, Dr. Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN) & Co, Mbah said Agballah accused him of joining the governorship race to use Enugu’s funds to pay for alleged N40 billion business debt.

He equally accused Agballah of labelling him member of a criminal gang, which allegedly engaged in malicious damage to property, assault, and other criminal activities against the people of Enugu.

Mbah said he was embarrassed by countless calls and messages from concerned family members, business and political associates, loved ones, friends and in-laws, while several Nigerians, who thought the claims were true, condemned him in the media and social media platforms.

The Enugu PDP governorship candidate added that although he had directed his solicitors to write the defendants through a letter dated July 22, 2022, in which he demanded retraction of the publication and an apology, as well as compensation for damaging his reputation, they chose to ignore it.

He said: “The defendants have not brought the publication down and, accordingly, will continue to defame and maliciously damage the claimant’s reputation, unless restrained by the court.”

Mbah is, therefore, seeking the sum of N1 billion as general damages, an order mandating the defendants to publish an apology to him in at least three national dailies in Nigeria, and a clear retraction of the defamatory publication made against him.

He is equally demanding N10 million as cost of the suit. (The Guardian)

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