A billionaire businessman and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Nasiru Danu, has threatened legal action against an online news platform, Sahara Reporters, over alleged libelous and defamatory publication against his person.
It was reported that the news platform had on Friday, March 5, published a report alleging that Mr Danu had connived with some top officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, to defraud the Nigerian government of N51billion.
But Mr. Danu, through his lawyers, Wole Olanipekun & Co, denied the allegation, saying that he “has never defrauded Nigeria in any way, shape, form or manner whatsoever”.
In a legal notice to Sahara Reporters, dated March 6, the lawyers said: “From the content of your publication under issue, the undisguised import, aim, purport and intention it set out to achieve was/is to injure our client’s reputation and name, as well as deflate his estimation in the eyes of well-meaning people.
“With all respect, what is discernible from your publication under reference is acute malice, spite, viciousness and a predetermination to lower and diminish the esteem of our client.”
The legal practitioners, therefore, threatened legal action against the news platform should the said publication not be retracted within seven days.
The lawyers also demanded the newspaper to publicly apologise to their client through its medium and social media handles for seven consecutive days from the date of the first publication.
“Public apologies to be published in at least 3 newspapers with online and physical presence across Nigeria for seven (&) consecutive days,” the legal practitioners added.
