Governor El-Rufai sues Reno Omokri, Chidi Odinkalu and others for N1.5bn

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai has filed a N1.5 billion defamation suit against former presidential spokesperson Reno Omokri, Professor Chidi Odinkalu and others.

Others joined in the defamation lawsuit filed by his lawyer A.U. Mustapha (SAN) before the FCT High Court are Thisday Newspaper, Daniel Elombah, Elombah Communications, Barrister Joseph Onu and Auta Nyada.

In the lawsuit filed against Reno Omokri, the Kaduna state Governor said the statements contained in his publication titled: ‘El-Rufai’s email saying southern women youth corpers are seen as whores’ which was published by Thisday newspaper on Sunday 14th of June 2020 is injurious to his reputation and “malicious, unwarranted and defamatory”. He demanded the sum of N500 million in damages and an apology published in the newspaper.

In the lawsuit filed against against Odinkalu, Daniel Elombah and Elombah Communications, El-Rufai averred that the publication titled: ‘Litany of 25 critics who have suffered at El-Rufai’s hands compiled by Chidi Odinkalu’ which was published in Elombah.com on Wednesday September 2, 2020 is “malicious, unlawful and without any justification.” He demanded the sum of N500 million in damages and apology for the “defamatory and greatly injurious to his reputation.”

The Kaduna state Governor who also filed a lawsuit against Joseph Onu and Nyada, insisted that a letter that they wrote dated August 19, 2020 titled: ‘Request to withdraw the offer of platform at the 2020 Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Malam Nasir El Rufai’ addressed to Prof. Koyinsola Ajayi, SAN, in his capacity as the Chairman, Technical Committee on Conference Planning (TCCP) Nigerian Bar Association and copied to DR. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Chairman, Board of Trustee, Nigerian Bar Association and Mr. Olumide Akpata, the then President-Elect of the NBA and published in the media, is “defamatory and greatly injurious to the reputation of the claimant.” He also demanded an apology and the sum of N500 million in damages.

No date has been fixed for the lawsuits.