By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

The Presidential Candidate of Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, has threatened to sue the special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Communications and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga for allegedly accusing him of being responsible for the planned hardship protest against the President Bola Tinubu-led government.

According to a letter by Obi’s lawyer, Mr Alex Ejesieme (SAN), to Onanuga, the presidential hopeful demanded N5billion as damages for the allegation of being responsible for the impending protest.

The letter reads: “The said statements are in every sense malicious and convey with them, the potentiality of an ostracization of our Client by well-meaning citizens of Nigeria.

“It should be stated without any form of equivocation, that our client is an elder statesman, a diplomat and an unwavering democrat.

“He has always tailored his affairs according to the dictates of the Nigerian law. Where there has been any dissatisfaction with any process or procedure, our client’s first and only resort has been to invoke the appropriate legal mechanisms to ventilate his grievances.

“It is 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 the society.

“It appears you have achieved your insipid motive as well-wishers from all around the globe have inundated him with calls to register their shock.

“Consequently, we have our client’s mandate to demand that you retract the statement made in the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him within 72 hours of the receipt of this letter in not less than 4 National Dailies to wit: Vanguard, This Day, Punch and the Cable, including your verified “X”.

“Our client also is making an unequivocal demand for monetary damage of N5,000,000,000 (Five Billion Naira) only for the embarrassment your defamatory publication has caused him and his family.”

Ejesieme further stressed that failure to meet the demands set out, he would be constrained to approach a court of competent jurisdiction and take legal action against Onanuga for defamation and libel.

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