A former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Maurice Iwu and the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday in Abuja settled out of court after the paper paid N500, 000 as compensation for malicious publication.
The report, which claimed Mr. Iwu had been indicted for electoral fraud and malpractices, was made on August 12, 2016, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
As part of the out of court settlement, the management of Daily Telegraph was ordered to publish an apology in its newspaper, including the internet version.
The court also ordered Mr. Iwu not to institute further action on the matter.
“The term of settlement is that they shall publish an apology in their newspaper and on the internet and they will pay the sum of N500, 000 as compensation.
“It is however gathered that the management of the newspaper had paid.
“Another thing is that the plaintiff shall not institute any further legal action over the same issue,’’ Mr. Iwu’s lawyer, Olufemi Balogun, said.
Emmanule Akoma, Daily Telegraph’s lawyer, told the court his client chose to settle out of court, adding that both parties had agreed to the terms of settlement.
Justice Angela Otaluka of the FCT High Court Lugbe said the plaintiff and the defendant were bound by the terms of settlement.
(NAN)