Nwosu gave Kachikwu seven days from the date of service of the letter to withdraw the ‘traducing’ statements or face a N20 billion defamation suit.
By Jeffrey Agbo
National chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ralph Nwosu, has threatened to sue the party’s presidential candidate, Dumebi Kachikwu, to court for alleged defamation.
The development comes as crisis in the party deepens following the suspension of Kachikwu and the suspension of state chairmen who backed him.
In a letter by his counsel, Sam Kargbo, Nwosu gave Kachikwu seven days from the date of service of the letter to withdraw the ‘traducing’ statements or face a N20 billion defamation suit at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
Part of the letter, which was served on Kachikwu on September 9, 2022, reads: “We are solicitors to Mr. Ralphs Okey Nwosu (our Client) of 4 Lusaka Street Abuja, and have been instructed concerning the slanderous, libellous and traducing statements you have been making against him at many for a, including press conferences and television interviews.
“According to our client, while basking in the euphoria of the wrong belief that being a presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) puts you in a commanding and imperial position over and above the constitutional structures and offices of the ADC.
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“You have not only abandoned the necessary task of working with the party hierarchy to put in place campaign structures and efforts that will enable the party to sustain its traditional relevance in the forthcoming general elections, but have also been spreading the malicious and defamatory claim that our client has over the years been trading on the interest and mandate of the ADC.”
Specifically, Nwosu’s counsel complained of a video clip from a press conference, in which Kachikwu spoke defamatory words against the ADC national chairman.
He averred: “In their natural and ordinary meaning, the words and comments complained in paragraph 4 above meant and are understood to mean that our client is: a saboteur; traitorous; undependable; dangerous and harmful; dubious; a rogue; duplicitous and selfish.”
Consequently, the lawyer urged Kachikwu to “note that if you neglect or fail to heed our demand, we shall, in protecting our client’s interest, proceed against you in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and seek the following remedies:
“Damages in the sum of N20 Billion (Twenty Billion Naira) for the injury and damage you have inflicted on the reputation and public standing of our client.
“An injunction to restrain you from publishing the same or similar statements in the future and cost of the suit.”
Kachikwu recently failed to get the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to sanction his attempt to remove the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) and impose a caretaker committee to be led by Naomi Akwashiki.