An Edo State High Court in Benin City, on Wednesday, fixed November 23, 2021, for the commencement of the hearing of a N5 billion defamatory suit against David Imuse, the chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The hearing scheduled to begin, on Wednesday, suffered a setback when the Registrar of High Court nine informed Counsel that the presiding judge, Justice Vestee Eboreime, would not be sitting.
‎The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in charge of Akwa Ibom State, Mike Igini, had instituted the suit over alleged character defamation and demanded the sum of N5 billion as aggravated damages from the APC chairman.
Speaking with journalists, Edwin Okonedo, Counsel to the claimant, said “We were prepared for trial this morning only for us to arrive in court and we were told by the Registrar that his lordship will not be sitting today. We have taken another date which is November 23, 2021, to commence trial.”
In the suit with reference number B/555/2020, the Plaintiff, Mike Igini, through his Counsel, Edwin Okonedo, is also demanding a full page unreserved apology to be published by the defendant in every edition of the Punch, Tribune, Guardian and the Sun Newspapers for seven consecutive times commencing not later than seven days after the judgment of the case.
In addition, he prayed the court for a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, privies and or servants howsoever called from further publishing same or similar words defamatory against him.
Okonedo claimed that prior to September 19, 2020, Edo State governorship election, the APC chairman and some other persons addressed a press conference titled, ‘Press conference on Governor Godwin Obaseki’s criminal attempt to infiltrate INEC officers like Mike Igini’ in Auchi in Etsako West Local Government Area.
He said the statement from the APC chairman “has dented the image of the claimant and people who erstwhile held the claimant in high esteem, have lost confidence in him and now avoid him.”
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