Pictures of the Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate within the last presidential election with his lead counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), and others in the legal team were sent to journalists on Tuesday.
In one amongst the pictures, Atiku was seen sitting while holding a pen above a white paper with Ozekhome bent over the table beside him.
The Former Vice President Atiku appeared in court FCT
In the caption accompanying the pictures, Ozekhome stated, “Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, today, at the Central registry of the FCT, High Court, Maitama, Abuja, with his client, His excellency, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Waziri Adamawa.
“The former vice-chairman was physically at the registry to sign his witness deposition (on oath) before the Commissioner for Oaths, on the case he instituted against Lauretta Onochie.
“The Waziri is saying amongst others, the sum of N2.5 bn only, from the Presidential Assistant on Social Media, as general, aggravated, punitive and exemplary damages against her.
“Atiku is claiming this sum from her for her defamatory story published on her twitter handle and Facebook page, in which she declared that Atiku was on the UAE watch list, as a wished man, asking, ‘shopping for terrorists?’”
Atiku had, on June 26, 2019, instituted the suit against Onochie for her alleged libelous tweet against him via her twitter handle on May 7, 2019.
The tweet allegedly urged that Atiku was on the watch list of security operatives within the United Arab Emirates and had traveled to buy for terrorists within the middle east.
He prayed the court among the suit marked CV/2287/19, to order Onochie to pay him the N2.5bn as “general, aggravated, punitive and exemplary damages over the much embarrassment, derision, public ridicule, odium, obloquy, marital disharmony, mental agony and psychological trauma that the defendant’s publications have caused the claimant.”
Atiku was in the watch list of security agent and operative in UAE
Denying the allegations within the same tweet, Atiku said it was “politically orchestrated” “solely to cause most damage” to his “high reputation” while challenging “the purported victory” of Onochie’s boss, President Buhari within the last presidential election at the Presidential Election Petition court.
The presidential candidate of the PDP in the Feb 23, 2019 poll had, through a May 14, 2019 letter signed by Ozekhome, demanded from Onochie an apology, a retraction of the said post and a payment of N500m compensation to him “to assuage” the injury allegedly done to him by her social media post.
He also vulnerable to sue her ought to she fail to accede to the demand “within 48 hours”.
Justifying his suit, Atiku expressed in his statement of claim accompanying his suit, that rather than show “remorse by retracting her earlier publication”, she further, on May 20, made “another derogatory publication and also published same on-line in the social and other print media” against his person.”
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