A former spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who is now Nigeria’s Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, has filed a suit at a Lagos State High Court seeking an order to stop the national publicity secretary of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Olisah Metuh, from making further “libelous” publications against him.
Mr. Mohammed’s lawsuit is asking the court to grant him a relief from further damage to his image, pending the hearing of a substantive suit he has also brought against the PDP spokesman.
Mr. Mohammed is accusing Mr. Metuh of publishing libelous material against him. The Information Minister is also demanding a compensation of N500 million on account of Mr. Metuh's alleged false publications against him.
The minister filed the lawsuit on October 12, 2015, claiming that Mr. Metuh had defamed him in a publication that came out on September 20, 2015.
Pending the hearing of the substantive suit, however, the minister wants the court to prohibit Mr. Metuh from making further defamatory publications against him.
Mr. Mohammed’s N500 million lawsuit alleged that the PDP's spokesman had falsely accused him of embezzling funds meant to build a fence around an airport in one of the southwest states under the control of APC. Mr. Metuh also allegedly claimed in several publications that the current Information Minister had obtained funds to supply ambulances to the southwest state, but failed to deliver them.
Mr. Mohammed’s lawyer, Wahab Shittu, filed the application for an injunction on November 8, 2015.
At a hearing today, Mr. Shittu urged the court to “restrain the defendant, his agents, groups or associations from further publishing libelous writings against the applicant pending the hearing of the substantive suit.”
He added: “The claimant is accused of corruption and embezzlement, meaning the claimant is a fraudster and an economic saboteur.” He reminded the presiding judge, Atinuke Ipaye, of the implications of Mr. Metuh’s alleged defamation since Mr. Mohammed had been appointed a minister.
In his response, counsel to Mr. Metuh, Emeka Etiaba, described the application as incompetent. He urged the court to either strike it out or dismiss it outright.
Mr. Metuh's counsel pointed to reported flaws in the plaintiff’s filing process, arguing that the application had not been served within the prescribed days. He added that the applicant had presented no facts to support the claim that libelous statements were made against him.
Mr. Etiaba also noted that Mr. Mohammed had not appended his signature to the filing document, adding that his signature was scanned to the document.
According to the defense lawyer, it was Mr. Mohammed who had “maliciously published libelous material against the defendant.”
The court adjourned till November 23, 2015, for its ruling.