Court Slaps N50m Damages On Ex-Commissioner over defamation
Court Slaps N50m Damages On Ex-Commissioner over defamation
…Orders Full-Page Apology In National Dailies
…As Ubani Faces Separate N5bn Suit By Otti
A Federal Capital Territory High Court has ordered a former Abia State Commissioner for Information, Don Ubani, to pay N50m damages for defaming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Umeh Kalu.
The trial judge, Justice J.O.E. Adeyemi–Ajayi, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, also directed Ubani, otherwise known as Okwunbunka of Asa, to publish a full-page apology in ThisDay and The Sun newspapers.
Adeyemi–Ajayi delivered the judgment in Suit No. FCT/HC/CV/6777/2023 filed by Kalu, a former Abia Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, over a publication authored by Ubani titled “What a demeaning unprofessional conduct by Chief Umeh Kalu, SAN.”
Ubani had, in a June 2023 press statement, accused the SAN of fraudulent conduct and portraying him as lacking morals and unfit to practice law.
In the publication, the defendant alleged that Kalu lacked self-discipline and good moral upbringing.
He accused Kalu of fraudulent conduct and described him as a “tout” and a disgrace to the legal profession.
Ubani further alleged that Kalu engaged in “fraudulent misdemeanour” during proceedings at the 2023 Abia State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia, where Kalu appeared as counsel to the Labour Party.
Reacting to the publication at the time, Kalu, through his solicitors at Seasons Law Firm, demanded a retraction and apology, which Ubani did not provide.
He subsequently instituted the suit and sought N500m in damages.
In his statement of claim, Kalu averred that the publication injured his reputation, caused him emotional distress, and exposed him to public ridicule among colleagues and associates in Nigeria and abroad.
Kalu, with nearly four decades of post-call experience, served as Abia State Attorney-General from 2009 to 2019 and is a Life Bencher.
He currently sits on the Ethics Committee of the Body of Benchers and is a member of the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee panel.
Reacting to the judgment, Kalu commended the court for its diligence in delivering the over 50-page decision.
He said he would ordinarily not have pursued the matter but for the need “to sanitise the Abia State political landscape, where few deviants have taken up the profession of tarnishing the hard – earned reputation of resourceful and hardworking public figures like himself for the collection of peanuts from their paymasters.”
He also vowed to enforce the judgment and donate the proceeds from the damages to motherless babies’ homes in Abia State.
Meanwhile, THE WHISTLER reports that Ubani is also facing a separate N5bn defamation suit instituted by Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, before another High Court of the FCT.
The case, marked FCT/HC/CV/4474/2024, arose from a 2024 publication in which Ubani alleged that the governor acquired Comfort Hotel, and the ‘luxurious Maget Hotel’ in Umuahia through alleged proxies.
In the publication titled “Governor Alexander Otti Of Abia State Should Be Clapped For,” Ubani wrote: “In this instance, the Governor has, through his proxies, bought two near-moribund hotels in Umuahia. Comfort Hotel is currently undergoing a very remarkable renovation. The luxurious Maget Hotel is now a prized possession of the Governor.”
He further accused the governor of “wanton land grabbing” in communities in Isialangwa South Local Government Area.
Otti had denied the allegations and described the publication as “satanic and defamatory”.
The governor is seeking N5bn in damages and N150m as the cost of the suit after Ubani allegedly failed to retract the publication and issue an apology as demanded.
The matter is pending before the court.
