‘Why Ortom threatens Oshiomhole with libel suit’

Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom has threatened Court action against National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), if he fails to apologize within seven days over what he described as libelous/ defamatory statement against him.
Ortom is also seeking payment of N10,000,000,000.00k (Ten BillionNaira) only as punitive, general, exemplary and aggravated damages.
Governor Ortom in a letter to the APC chairman through his lawyers, dated 06. 08.
2018 which was made available to Blueprint Saturday in Makurdi, referred to various interviews and media briefings wherein Comrade Oshiomhole allegedly defamed, maligned and demeaned his personality.
The letter pointed out that on Friday, July 27th, 2018, the Oshiomhole sponsored press conference which was entirely centered on the person of Governor Ortom.
He made very astonishing, unsubstantiated, wild and wide allegations against the governor relating to the issue of allocation and payment of salaries, security votes expenditure and the insecurity in Benue state.
The letter reads: “It is the aggregate of your allegations that our client has confessed to sharing Benue state money with party leaders and that despite collection of bail out and Paris Club refund monies, “Gov. Ortom has not and is not paying salaries… the vicious circle of poverty in Benue state has been deepened under Gov. Ortom”.
“It is noteworthy that in the entire web of false accusations that you weaved against our client, you could not bring yourself to mention a single Benue person or any other person for that matter from whom you sourced your false narratives.
For the records, the principles of law grounding liability for defamation and libel do not exculpate tale bearers from liability for the reason that the tales they bear are not original to them.
“There is also no gainsaying the fact that the false allegations you have leveled against our client are weighty and same would have demanded a greater degree of circumspection, sobriety and deep reflection from you before rushing to the public domain.
“Therefore, the only inference to draw is that your unproven allegation was informed by a dangerously cultivated, albeit unwarranted malice against our client”.
Continuing, the letter also demanded the former Governor of Edo state, to retract/apologize to Ortom in respect of the false, defamatory and libelous statement made against him in the sponsored press conference herein complained of.