A one-billion-naira libel suit has been filed against Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, the All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman of the Enugu state by the PDP governorship aspirant.
Peter Mbah, the Enugu State governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), dragged Agballah before the Enugu State High Court.
The suit marked: E/25/2023 the Independent Newspapers Limited, publishers of Daily Independent Newspapers, were joined as 2nd defendant.
In his statement of claim, Mbah alleged that Agballah accused him of being in a forty billion naira debt and that he joined the Enugu governorship race to use Enugu State’s funds to pay up an alleged debt.
He added that he was humiliated by countless calls and messages from family members, business and political associates and others who thought the claims were true.
He also alleged to have received various condemnations in the media and social media platforms.
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Mbah, in the writ of summons dated and filed on January 18 by his lawyer, Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), sought the court to declare that the defendants had falsely and maliciously accused him of belonging to a gang of criminals and that he was engaging in criminal activities through a publication of May 30, 2022, in the newspaper.
While demanding damages of N1 billion for the purported libellous publication against him, he prayed the court to mandate the defendants to publish an apology and a refutation of the defamatory publication made against him in at least three national dailies.
Mbah’s lawyer submitted that the defendant’s statement and publication were calculated to discredit him in society and expose him to hatred and ridicule; thus, he demanded N10 million as the cost of the suit. He claimed that despite directing his solicitors to write the defendants in a letter dated 22nd July 2022, demanding a retraction of the publication, an apology, and compensation for damage to his reputation, they chose to ignore it.