Defamatory Statement: Elumelu Mulls Legal Action Against Elue, Demands Apology, Retraction or N1BN for Damages

The House of Representatives Member-Elect for Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency, Rt. Hon Ndudi Elumelu, has served notice on Mr. Nnabuife Anthony Elue, demanding an apology over what he described as the “vile, denigrating false and malicious publication” made by Mr. Elue against him and a comprehensive retraction of the said publication in several media outlets, failure of which a N1 billion lawsuit for damages, will be slammed on Mr. Elue subsequently.

The letter of demand for Apology and Retraction of the publication, as well as a notice of potential litigation on Mr. Nnabuife Anthony Elue, was written by the legal firm of A.C Okeibuno & Co, representing Rt. Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, which referenced the article titled: “HURIWA Drags Rep-Elect, Elumelu To IGP, NHRC For Threatening Man’s Life After Attempting To Snatch His Wife”.

The Law firm in the correspondence made available to Journalists, highlighted the specific grounds contained in the said publication on which the demand for apology was based, retraction of the said publication in specified national and online media platforms and the recourse to full blown legal action for defamation and damages to the tune of N1 billion, if the apology and retractions were not done within Seven days of the service of the letter, dated 23 May, 2019.

The letter titled, “DEMAND FOR APOLOGY, RETRATION FOR DEFAMATORY STATEMENT/PUBLICATION AGAINST AND CONCERNING THE PERSON OF RT.HON. NDUDI ELUMELU,” reads in part:

“It is our clients’ instruction that you, within Seven days of service of this letter, retract this false, malicious and defamatory publication, through six National Dailies circulating in Nigeria, the Internet, other social media platforms where the said publications were made and tender a written apology to our client.

“However, if our client’s humble request cannot be met, we have his further instructions to institute an action for defamation and N1, 000, 000, 000 (One billion naira) damages against you”

It will be recalled that Rt. Hon Ndudi Elumelu had, in the wake of the publication in the online news portal, Elombah.com, promptly and swiftly released a terse and comprehensive rejoinder, signed by the Director General of the Ndudi Elumelu Campaign Organization, Hon. Anene Chigbue, which denied the allegations of threat to life and wife snatching levelled against him by Mr. Nnabuife Anthony Elue, describing them as false, baseless, unfounded and the handiwork of persons who were using Nnabuife Elue to tarnish his image and reputation.