The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party , PDP, Prince Uche Secondus and the founder of the founder of Daar Communications PLC, Raymond
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party , PDP, Prince Uche Secondus and the founder of the founder of Daar Communications PLC, Raymond Dokpesi, have both protested the inclusion of their names among the Federal Government’s recently released list of looters. While Uche Secondus has already filed a suit against the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over alleged defamation of character, Raymond Dokpesi hrough his lawyer, Mike Ezekhome SAN, has asked for a redress from the minister or risk going to jail.
The minister had earlier stated that Secondus collected N200 million from the former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retd) while Dokpesi he said received the sum of N2.1 billion in several tranches from the former National Security Adviser. Secondus, through his lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), denied collecting a dime from the former NSA, and promptly wrote a letter to the Minister seeking the immediate retraction of his name on the list, the payment of N1.5 billion in damages and a public apology within 48 hours.
Dokpesi
Having defaulted on the deadline given, Prince Secondus yesterday made good his threat and filed a suit at the Port Harcourt, High Court, Rivers State praying among other things that the court awards to him the sum of N1.5 billion 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 is also claiming that Lai Mohammad’s publication is defamatory and is asking the court to direct him to retract the said publication and apologize in writing. The statement further demanded that the Minister, “Publish the retraction and apology in all the social media including but not limited to the following newspapers, the Nation, Thisday, Vanguard, The Sun, Guardian and Punch as well as in NTA and Channels Televisions among others where the defamatory story was published.”
Secondus is also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendant (Lai Mohammed) from further publishing defamatory materials against him. Mohammed has yet to respond to the suit.
Even though Dokpesi’s case is currently before a Federal High Court in Abuja and has suffered many adjournments without conviction, he said that the publication by the minister is defamatory. In a letter addressed to the minister via his lawyer, the publication has damaged his client’s “hard-earned reputation” leading to his suffering riducule, psychological trauma and business losses.
“Take note that unless you carry out the above minimal demands immediately to redress the incalculable damage done to our client’s hard-earned image and reputation consequent upon your defamatory and mendacious publication, we shall, without any further communication from us, commence legal action against you to redress your unrestrained and unwarranted assault against our client’s hard-earned image and reputation,” Ozekhome said in the letter.
