Dokpesi’s N5bn libel suit: Court fixes March 16 for adoption of final addresses
Justice Adegboyega Adeniyi of the Federal Capital Territory High Court has fixed March 19 for Chief Raymond Dokpesi, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) to adopt their final written addresses in a N5billion libel suit filed by Dokpesi.
Justice Adeniyi fixed the date on Thursday after Mohammed and Malami closed their defence.
At the resumed hearing of defamation suit instituted against the two ministers, a defence witness, a Special Assistant to the president in the office of the minister of information, Segun Adeyemi under cross -examination by the counsel for the claimant, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), said his duty is to write speeches, press statements and advice the minister on media related matters.
He further stated that on March 30, 2019, the information minister addressed a media conference which he attended and when asked if any of the media houses whose publications were tendered as exhibits instructed the minister to quote the paragraph where he named Dokpesi as looter, the witness answered in the negative.
The video evidence of where the minister read the supposed list of looters in Nigeria including Dokpesi’s name was presented and also played before the court.
When asked if the minister in his statement used the word “allegedly” when the minister mentioned Dokpesi and others in the list of looters, Adeyemi said that the word allegedly was never used in his speech.
He also said he does not have any evidence with him that Dokpesi looted the federal treasury to the tune of N2.1billion.
When asked if any of the report in his possession indicated that Dokpesi collected N2.1billion, the witness said yes, but that the reason given was that the money was for media purposes.
Adeyemi admitted that he does not know how the document of looters was generated by the media and however, agreed that he does not have any evidence as to the looters’ list that alleged that Dokpesi looted the alleged sum.
An online publication and statement on oath were presented to the court and admitted in evidence.
Chief Dokpesi had alleged in the libel suit that on March 30, 2019, during a press conference, the information minister and his justice counterpart defamed his character by the inclusion of his name on the treasury looters’ list, thereby portrayed him as “a corrupt and crooked person, a dishonest man and a thief.”
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He further claimed that the ministers’ action negatively affected his reputation and that his image which he had laboured to build suffered considerable distress and ridicule in the political corridor as a result of the inclusion of his name in the list.
He therefore, urged the court to grant a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants or its agents and representatives from further writing and publishing defamatory words about him.
Besides asking for an award of N5 billion as damages, he also wants the court to order the defendants to tender an unreserved apology to him in all the major electronic and print media outlets in the country.
