Treasury Looting list: Secondus drags Lai Mohammad to Court for defamation ...........asks for N1.5b damages

UCHE SECONDUS

Following the backlash of criticisms that has continued to trial the "looters list" released by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Information and Culture Minister of the ruling APC government in the Nigeria, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Prince Uche Secondus has slammed a #1.5bn suit against the Minister.


It will be recalled that immediately after the release of the said "looters list", Secondus had issued a warning to the Minister of seeking legal redress in a competent court of law.

Secondus, in living up to his threat, has dragged the Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed to court, for defamation of character.

In the said "looters list", the Minister had mentioned Prince Secondus in the alleged list of those he claimed looted the nation's treasury, alleging that he (Secondus) collected the sum of N200m from the former National Security Adviser NSA but an embarrassed Secondus who said he never collected a dime from the former NSA, through his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba SAN, wrote to the Minister seeking the immediate retraction of the National Chairman's name on the list, payment of N1.5b damages and public apology within 48 hours.

The letter told Alhaji Mohammad to note that, if he fails to meet their demand after 48 hours, " We shall within 72 hours from today, proceed to a court of competent jurisdiction to ventilate our clients right under the law and shall further seek the protection of the court against you"

Having failed to  meet the demand, Prince Secondus on friday April 6,2018, made good his threat and filed a suit at the Port Harcourt, High Court, Rivers state claiming among other things that the court awards to him the sum of N1.5b being damages for humiliation, castigation, vilification attack on his person and integrity as a result of the publication.

According to a statement from the PDP National Chairman's media office signed by his Spokesperson, Ike Abonyi, Secondus in the suit no/PHC/1013/2018 is also claiming that Lai Mohammad's publication is defammatory and is asking the court to direct him to retract the said publication and apologize in writing.

Publish the retraction and apology in all the social media including but not limited to the following newspapers, the Nation, Thisday, The Sun, Guardian and Punch as well as in the following television channels, NTA and Channels Televisions among others where the defammatory story was published.

Secondus is also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining  the defendant from further publishing defammatory materials against him.

Joined in the suit are the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Attorney General of the Federation and the Vintage Press Ltd, publishers of the Nation Newspapers.