Iyiola Omisore, the party’s national secretary, threatened to sue Salihu Lukman, the APC’s vice chairman in the North West, for defamation, but Lukman has dismissed her threats.
According to Naija News, Lukman requested that Omisore submit his resignation during an interview he gave on AIT Television on Tuesday.
Members of the ruling party’s National Working Committee (NWC) Lukman and Omisore have been at odds over the makeup of the
In addition, Lukman charged Omisore with misusing funds intended for the Osun governorship election, which the APC lost to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
“I’m aware the party gave some campaign funds to Osun, which were handled by the national secretary. To some extent, he either mismanaged it or, more importantly, he’s not accounting to anyone. You have to activate the process of accountability,” he had said.
However, in a letter dated March 15 and addressed to Lukman, Omisore’s lawyer Gboyega Oyewole (SAN) claimed that Lukman’s remark was false and intended to defame his client.
If Lukman does not apologize and pay 500 million naira within two days, the APC Secretary threatened, through his legal counsel, to take him to court.
“It is clear beyond doubt that your statement and publication was a political ploy with the intent to impugn the reputation and integrity of our client and unjustifiably and unwarrantedly assassinate his character in the eyes of right-thinking members of the public,” Oyewole said.
“Our client has thus instructed us to request a retraction of your libelous statement and publication, an apology to be published in two major newspapers and several online news outlets not later than 48 hours of the delivery of this letter, as well as the payment of the sum of N500,000,000 as damages for malicious statement against our client.
TAKE NOTICE that we will be forced to file a lawsuit against you for exemplary damages for defamatory statements made about and about our client that are harmful to their reputation if you don’t heed their request within 48 hours of receiving this letter.
Lukman said he can’t be intimidated by Omisore with the letter and the upcoming libel lawsuit in an interview with Blueprint on Wednesday night.
I will respond to him appropriately, but my first impression is that he’s trying to bully me, the man said.