The governor in suit filed at the High Court Registry Enugu is asking for a declaration that by printing and publication of the article,the defendant was liable to the plaintiff for libel.
He is also seeking general damages in the sum of N1 billion and another N1 billion as exemplary/aggravated damages for libel.
In addition, the governor is also asking for an order compelling the defendant to retract the publication and tender an apology, “which retraction and apology shall be published in the same manner and given the same prominence as the publication of the libel”, as well as in three national daily newspapers with wide circulation in Nigeria.
He is also demanding the sum of N7.5 million as cost of the action.
The plaintiff in his statement of claim, averred that the words used in the story were intended to refer to “and indeed referred to and were understood to refer to him”.
He added that a substantial number of readers of the publication who read the offensive publication remembered the content, while a number of his friends, associates and family members told him that they were shocked and scandalized by the contents of the publication.
The governor further stated that the defendant knew or ought to have known that the publication was baseless and false and that it was recklessly and maliciously made as a deliberate and calculated act to disparage him as the defendant, contrary to acceptable standards in the practice of journalism, did not make any attempt to either ascertain the truth of the story contained in the publication “nor did it seek to obtain the plaintiff’s side of the story before rushing to publish same”.
The statement further read: “The false, malicious and libelous statements published by the defendant have assassinated the plaintiff’s character and caused him emotional injury and trauma, which injury and trauma still persist at present in view of the non-interaction of the said defamatory statements by the defendant.”
Confirming the action, a close aide of the governor said while he (governor) had the highest regards for the media, he was committed to ensuring that not only should any false publication aimed
at unjustly bringing him to public ridicule go unpunished, but also that the journalism profession was generally practiced within established ethics and standards.
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