Protest: Obi gives Onanuga 72 hours to apologise, semands N45bn damages

Presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 general elections, Mr Peter Obi has given a 72-hour ultimatum to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Communication and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, to pay N5 billion damages for defamation.

Onanuga had on July 20 via his X handle @aonanuga1956, alleged that Obi’s supporters are planning mayhem in Nigeria.

The presidential spokesman had also averred that the former Anambra State governor should be held responsible for anarchy.

Reacting to the allegation, the Labour Party leader ordered Onanuga to retract his wild allegation linking him to the planned mass protest scheduled for August and also tender a public apology published in four national newspapers over the widespread defamation and libel or face legal action.

Obi, through his counsel, Alex Ejesieme, said the allegation which went viral on social and mainstream media and read by many within and outside the country, maligned his hard-earned reputation, as well as dented his image as a man who indulges in violence, when all his antecedents were vivid as a man who abhors violence even in the face of extreme provocation.

He noted that the publication was a calculated plot to demean, ridicule, humiliate and embarrass him in the estimation of every right-thinking member of the society.

The counsel added that the allegation might have achieved its insipid motive as well-wishers from around the globe had inundated the former presidential candidate to register their shock.

“His appellation as ‘Okwute’ (the Rock) notwithstanding, the demeaning and scandalous publication has also caused a serious emotional injury to our client given his decades of stellar stewardship in private and public life.

“Consequently, we have our client’s mandate to demand that you retract the statement made in the publication and tender an unreserved apology to him within 72 hours of the receipt of this letter in not less than four national dailies to wit: Vanguard, THISDAY, Punch and the Cable, including your verified X“@aonanuga1956,” the legal counsel demanded.