A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered the Federal Government and the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, to pay the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Prince Uche Secondus the sum of N20 million as damages for defamation.
The order was contained in the judgement delivered by the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Adama Iyayi-Lamikanra, in a defamation suit filed by the PDP chairman.
In a virtual court sitting on Thursday, the judge said Secondus successfully proved his case that the defendants jointly and severally defamed him by publishing his name on the looters’ list in 2018.
Recall that the Minister of Information and Culture in March 2018 published a list of some Nigerians he claimed looted the country’s treasury and named Secondus as one of such looters.
Secondus’ lawyer, Emeka Etiaba (SAN), later wrote the minister, demanding the retraction of the publication as well as a payment of N1.5bn damages to the PDP chairman within 72 hours, failing which he threatened to go to court.
Following FG’s failure to retract the publication, Secondus filed a suit marked PHC/1013/2018 against Mohammed and the Federal Government, urging the court to declare that the respondents defamed him by putting his name on the looters’ list.
The court on Thursday entered judgment in Secondus’ favour and awarded N20m in damages against the defendants.
The judge said, “The claimant’s case succeeds and the defendants are jointly and severally liable for the libellous publication made against the claimant.
“The 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants shall publish a written apology in favour of the claimant in the newspaper of the 3rd defendant.”
The judge made “an order of injunction restraining the defendants whether by themselves, agents or privies from further publishing defamatory statements against the claimant.”
