Gbajabiamila threatens to sue FirstNews editor, Segun Olatunji, for alleged libel
By Jeffrey Agbo
President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, has threatened to file a libel suit against editor-in-chief of FirstNews, Segun Olatunji, over “false and malicious defamatory” articles published by him or published off his interviews with a news platform.
Gbajabiamila, in a letter dated May 3, 2024 by his solicitor Kemi Pinheiro, demanded a public apology from Olatunji and FirstNews and a retraction of the alleged false and malicious defamatory articles in seven days.
He warned those who have published the articles or considering publication to bear in mind the legal implications of doing so.
The letter to Olatunji reads: “Our client’s attention has been drawn to the series of deliberate and coordinated malicious campaigns of calumny against his person in various print, electronic media and social media platforms arising from your article published January 28, 2024, (republished on April 6, 2024) and interview you granted to the same online media platform Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) on April 4, 2024, in relation to your arrest and detention by Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
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“By the said article and interview, you falsely and maliciously published of and concerning our Client defamatory words, wherein he was either expressly or by innuendo portrayed as a fraudulent, corrupt, dishonest, shady, unreliable and disloyal person who is unfit to hold the exalted office of Chief of Staff to the President.”
The letter demanded that Olatunji, “within seven days of receipt of this letter, cause to be published in two national newspapers a full page unequivocal public retraction and apology in terms to be approved by our firm; and in this regard we expect you to revert to us within three days of receipt of this letter. You shall also be expected to circulate the retraction and apology on the same platforms wherein your article and interview were circulated.”
It warned that unless Olatunji responds satisfactorily, Pinheiro LP would seek damages for libel, an injunction restraining him from further or similar publications, “an order for retraction of the defamatory words and a public apology in the terms and manners to be stipulated by us and published in at least two national papers.”
Furthermore, the law firm advised the “the public who are already indulged or may be tempted to indulge in the dissemination of these false and defamatory contents to cease and desist from sharing, posting, forwarding, or disseminating the said contents or otherwise engage in cyberstalking of our client, premised on the defamatory words contained in the aforementioned interview and article…’’
