Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has threaten legal action against Blueprint Newspaper over its story on allegations of corruption labelled against him by the sacked chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin.
Loading ...A letter dated July 27 addressed to the editor of the paper by Dogara’s counsel threatened a lawsuit if the paper did not retract the story it published on its cover of July 26, 2016, within the next seven days.
The letter signed by Barrister J. J. Usman of Prof. Joash Ojo Amupitan & Co legal firm alleged that under the Tuesday’s cover story titled “NASS members are rogues, Obasanjo insists – Says I am vindicated, Dogara took bribe from agencies, Jibrin” the Speaker’s reputation has been damaged.
The story in question was from a press statement issued by Jibrin, where he alleged that Dogara was abusing his office by soliciting for bribe from companies and government agencies, among other sundry allegations.
The Speaker’s lawyers claimed that the publication has portrayed their client as “criminal, corrupt, dishonest, fraudulent, irresponsible, dishonourable and unfit to hold the position of Speaker of House of Representatives.”
“Take note that in the event of your failure/refusal to unconditionally retract your false and defamatory statements within seven days of the receipt of this letter, you will have left us with no choice, but to proceed with legal action against you. In that event, we will pursue all options to undo the reputational injury caused by you, including a claim for aggravated and exemplary damage.”
