Justice
Olamide Akinkugbe of a Lagos State High Court sitting in Ikeja has
adjourned a N150 billion libel suit filed by the All Progressives
Congress’ (APC’s) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, against African
Independent Communication (AIT) till May 27 for direction.
Justice Akinkugbe adjourned the suit
yesterday after the counsel to the claimant, Ayodele Adedipe, and that
of AIT, Jeffery Kadiri, made their submissions before the court.
Asiwaju Tinubu took Daar Communications Plc, owners of AIT, to court for airing a documentary entitled: “Lion of Bourdillon”. The plaintiff claimed that the documentary was defamatory of his character.
The judge had on April 1, 2015 granted
an order of interlocutory injunction, restraining the broadcast station
from further airing the documentary, pending the determination of the
libel suit.
At the resumed hearing of the matter
yesterday, Tinubu’s counsel informed the court that the claimant had
filed Forms 17 and 18 and served same on the defendant. Kadiri confirmed that the defendant received the processes. He, however, told the court that the respondent would file a counter-claim and join issues with the claimant. For this, he said the respondent would
require a long adjournment to ensure that all processes would get into
the court’s file within the 42 days period specified by the law.
Justice Akinkugbe consequently granted
his request and adjourned the matter for further direction to enable
parties proceed to Pre-Conference stage. Under this stage, parties are expected to explore settlement without going into full trial stage. Asiwaju Tinubu instituted the suit
claiming that the documentary, which started airing on March 1, 2015 at
11pm, defamed his character.
His lead counsel, Chief Wole Olanipekun
(SAN), said the documentary showcased various properties and companies
across Lagos purportedly owned by him and that his client was described
as “Nigeria’s biggest landlord”. Olanipekun said the programme also claimed that Tinubu was “charged for narcotics” in 1993 in the United States (U.S.).
He alleged that the documentary was politically sponsored to tarnish Tinubu’s reputation in the eyes of the populace. Olanipekun, therefore, urged the court to award N150 billion as damages against AIT for tarnishing his client’s reputation. But AIT’s lead counsel, Chief Mike
Ozekhome, argued that the content of the documentary were facts, which
had been in the public domain for over two decades.
According to him, the information was
already published independently prior to the broadcast and had remained
unchallenged till date. He contended that Tinubu was a former
senator, two-time governor of Nigeria’s most populous state and the
leader of the APC, which claimed to be against corruption. Ozekhome said AIT aired the documentary because it had a responsibility to its audience to scrutinise public officers.
He added that Tinubu had not shown how the said documentary damaged his reputation.
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