By Desire Emmanuel
Former governor of Kano State and vice presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso, on Wednesday, June 24, demanded a retraction and public apology from the popular cleric, Primate Elijah Ayodele, over what he described as defamatory comments made by the cleric.
Kwankwaso, through his lawyers, said failure to do so will make the former governor to slap a N10 billion suit against the cleric.
The legal team described the statements credited to Ayodele as false, malicious and damaging to Kwankwaso’s reputation, demanding a public retraction within 24 hours or face legal action.
In the letter addressed to the cleric, the lawyers quoted Ayodele as saying: “Kwankwaso is fake to Obi. Kwankwaso will betray you. Kwankwaso has been paid to be vice president to Obi,” among other libelous comments.
The lawyers said Ayodele made those comments while addressing a congregation in his church which was recorded by some worshippers and posted on the social media, especially Facebook and X.
The lawyers said the malicious comments were geared towards tarnishing the reputation, integrity and sincerity of purpose of the former governor and as Peter Obi’s running mate.
“If you neglect, fail or refuse to accede to our reasonable demands within the stipulated time frame, we have our client’s instruction to take out appropriate legal proceedings against you without further recourse to you, wherein we shall claim substantial damages to the tune of N10 billion, among other beliefs,” the lawyers said.
As of the time of this report, Primate Ayodele is yet to respond to the letter from Kwankwaso’s lawyers.
