Peter Odili had in October 2016 dragged Peterside to court demanding N6 billion as damages for defaming his character.
By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
The Supreme Court has affirmed the N6b Fine slammed against the former Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
Peterside was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 governorship election of Rivers State. After the election which Nyesom Wike won, Peterside protested the outcome at the High Court up to the Supreme Court.
After losing at the Supreme Court, he alleged that Wike leveraged his closeness to Peter Odili to influence judges of the apex court. Odili’s wife recently retired as a Justice of the apex court.
Peter Odili had in October 2016 dragged Peterside to court demanding N6 billion as damages for defaming his character.
In the suit, Odili told the court that Peterside, during a press conference in Port Harcourt, defamed his character by claiming that he (Peter Odili) aided Nyesom Wike’s Supreme Court victory using his wife who was a justice of the apex court at the time.
A High Court in Rivers State had granted Odili’s request and imposed a N6 billion fine as damages against Dakuku Peterside — a judgment which was affirmed by the appellate court.
Delivering its decision on the appeal on Friday, the Supreme Court dismissed Peterside’s plea for want of merit.
The lead judgment which was prepared by Amina Augie was delivered by Adamu Jauro.
May 27, 2022 has not been a good day for the camp of ex-Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi. In the space of minutes, the Supreme Court gave two judgments against the leading lights of that camp.
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Supreme Court gives nod for Amaechi’s probe 72 hours to APC presidential primary
The first was a ruling that gave the Rivers State government the nod to probe Amaechi over a missing N96 billion of Rivers State money. The ruling came 72 hours before the APC presidential primary which Amaechi is a frontrunner.
The second ruling by the Supreme Court is the one against Dakuku Peterside which orders him to pay Odili N6billion in damages over a case of defamation.