The N2.1bn libel suit instituted by a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, against former President Olusegun Obasanjo, has sparked abusive exchange between the two men.
The suit, which is before Justice
Valentine Ashi of a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja,
turned into a sort of a name calling platform, as Obasanjo in his
statement of defence described Kashamu as a notorious debtor and a man
lacking in local and international reputation.
He described the PDP chief’s suit as
“frivolous, speculative and gold digging” and urged the court to dismiss
it for lack of jurisdiction because it failed to disclose any
reasonable cause of action against him.
But in his reply to the statement of
defence, Kashamu faulted what he described as Obasanjo’s “self-praise”
referring to the former President as a social misfit and a
poverty-stricken school dropout.
He said the former President only found
fame and fortune in joining the Nigerian Army where he benefited
“disproportionately” from the military incursion into governance in
Nigeria.
Kashamu had on February 6, 2014, sued
Obasanjo, asking the court to award N20bn as aggravated and exemplary
damages, and another N100m against the former President for “maliciously
and recklessly” publishing a letter entitled, ‘Before it is too late’,
addressed to President Goodluck Jonathan.
Through his counsel, Dr. Alex Iziyon
(SAN), Kashamu claimed that the words used by Obasanjo to describe him
in the said letter, which was published in both the print and electronic
media, portrayed him “as a criminal wanted for drugs related offences
in the United States of America and the United Kingdom.”
But in his statement of defence filed on
May 14, Obasanjo stuck to his allegations in his letter to President
Jonathan, stating that he had no reason to retract the words in the said
letter as requested by Kashamu’s lawyer “because the statement/words
are correct, true and justified.”
He added, “The plaintiff has no iota of good reputation locally and internationally.
“Aside the plaintiff’s illicit drug
business for which he was indicted and wanted in America, the plaintiff
has penchant for taking loans from unsuspecting banks/financial
institutions with the intention to permanently elude/avoid repayment or
liquidation of such loans.
“Further to that, the plaintiff has been
judicially adjudged/confirmed a debtor by a competent court of law in
Cotonou, Republic of Benin. And the plaintiff presently occupies a
choice position on the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria’s list
of notorious bad debtors.
“The plaintiff is a person, who with his
true name/identity supplied, will not be granted visa by the German
government or any country of the world having good relationship with the
United States of America.”
But in his reply, dated May 21, to
Obasanjo’s statement of defence, Kashamu stated that the former
President’s claims in his statement of defence constituted “an
aggravation of the libel.”
He said Obasanjo’s use of his touted
national and international acclaim to “malign more productive members of
the society is uncalled for and could be symptomatic of megalomania.”
Kashamu stated, “The plaintiff
acknowledges that the defendant (Obasanjo), a poverty-stricken dropout
from school and otherwise a social misfit, eventually found fame and
fortune by joining the Armed Forces of Nigeria and benefitting
disproportionately from opportunism of military adventure into
governance in Nigeria…”
He said Obasanjo’s “vaunted international
acclaim” was tested in 2008 when the former President contested for the
position of the Secretary General of the United Nations with “a barely
known diplomat from Egypt.
“The defendant (Obasanjo) was put in his
place as he failed to fly the flag of the nation successfully and lost
the contest disgracefully,” the plaintiff’s lawyer, said on behalf of
his client.
Apparently embarrassed by Kashamu’s
response, Obasanjo, subsequently filed a motion on notice dated June 6,
asking the court to expunge the parts of the plaintiff’s
counter-affidavit which he said constituted a “personal abuse” on him.
The matter was then adjourned till July 28 and 29 for hearing.
Source: Punch
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