Senator Demands Public Apology From Presidential Aide, Onochie Over Alleged Defamation

Peter Nwaoboshi, the senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, has demanded a public retraction of the allegations made against his person by Lauretta Onochie, an aide to President Muhammadu Buhari.

Nwaoboshi who made the request in a letter dated June 9 and obtained by BIGPEN in Abuja, is asking for a public apology over what he called her defamatory publication.

In the letter signed by his counsel, Daniel Hassan Bwala, the senator wants a retraction of the said defamatory publication in all of her social media platform and unreserved apology within the next 48 hours.

The letter which was addressed to Onochie, however, threatened to take legal action to redress the damage the said publication had caused on the reputation of the lawmaker.

Bwala said that the letter was sequel to a defamatory publication made by Onochie on June 8, titled “NDDC – The chicken comes home to roost” from where she made several unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against Nwaoboshi.

According to the letter, Onochie had used unprintable names to described the high ranking senator including calling him a “thief” and a person not fit to represent the good people of Delta North Senatorial district.

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The letter also alleged that Onochie portrayed Nwaoboshi as someone who had committed alot of”atrocities as chairman senate committee on Niger Delta” and also a “man of no integrity”.

Bwala said that the defamatory article was posted/published on Onochie Facebook page primarily to tarnish the hard earned image of the senator.

“That our client believes that this publication by you against him is meant to ridicule his image all because you occupy an important position in the government of President Buhari in relation to social media, so whatever you posted or shared should be taken as the position of the President and therefore your post/publication would be believed by others.

“That our client believes that this publication/post about him is meant to be understood and was understood by reasonable and right thinking members of the public that he is:

“A thief as you called him in the Facebook post; Corrupt and Criminal; Abusing his office and not fit to represent the good people of Delta North Senatorial district; Committing atrocities as chairman senate committee on Niger Delta; Not a man of integrity.

“That this publication was made/posted by you mischievously and maliciously. To say the least, the said libelous post is calculated to undermine him knowing that the senate is carrying out a probe of the NDDC

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“That our client believe that for you to call him a thief without being convicted by the court of law has not only maligned his image but has also ridiculed his integrity.

“That it is only a competent court of law that can pronounce someone a thief when the person is found guilty of a crime.

“That there is no doubt that your Facebook posts/publications enjoys wide readership throughout Nigeria and globally as Special Assistant to Nigeria’s President on Social Media. To have maligned, disparaged and tarnished his reputation and integrity and image both in his official and personal capacity is not only condemnable but actionable”.