Human rights lawyer Deji Adeyanju on Friday repudiated claimed defamatory statements made against the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) interim National Chairman and National Secretary, Umar Damagun, as well as Senator Samuel Anyanwu.
Adeyanju, in a letter dated December 6 from his law company, Deji Adeyanju & Partners, signed by Zainab Otega, apologised for the slander.
In a letter issued to Johnson Usman, SAN, counsel for Damagun and Anyanwu, Otega stated that the “statements were not intended to defame your clients.”
She said that any perception of defamation in the aforementioned words is regretted and withdrawn with apologies.
She also maintained that any perception of defamation in the said statements is regretted and withdrawn with apologies.
The letter reads, “We are solicitors to Deji Adeyanju, Esq. (hereinafter referred to as our client), on whose instruction we act.
“Our client received two letters from the law firm of the revered Senior Advocate of Nigeria, J. J. Usman, alleging that some statements he made on a podcast a few weeks ago were deemed defamatory of Damagun and Anyanwu, the National Chairman and Secretary of the PDP, respectively.
“Our client’s statements on the podcast were taken out of the bigger context of the conversation, which is the need for the leadership of the People’s Democratic Party to provide a virile opposition to the ruling party.
“These statements were not intended to defame your clients, and any perception of defamation in the said statements is regretted and withdrawn with apologies.
“As a human rights activist, our client remains committed to the betterment of Nigeria and will continue to urge those in leadership to prioritise the interest of Nigerians over and above personal interest.”
On Wednesday, Adeyanju accused Damagun of providing tea and Anyanwu of serving ‘Kilishi’ at the home of President Bola Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
He made the remarks while discussing Tinubu’s ambitions to establish a PDP presidential candidate before the 2027 general elections.
Adeyanju alleged on The Honest Bunch podcast that Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Nyesom Wike and Damagum are Tinubu’s PDP spies.
He said, “The current PDP is in Wike’s pocket at the national level; he installed the current PDP national chairman, who goes to serve tea in Femi Gbajabiamila’s House.
“While Damagum is serving tea, PDP’s National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, goes to the kitchen to serve Kilishi; they are the people in charge of the PDP.
“These are Tinubu’s moles, just like Abure in LP, who is an APC mole. There is no opposition; that’s why nobody is challenging the system. Aside from a few of us, who else is talking?”
Following the allegations, Damagun and Anyanwu vowed to take Adeyanju to court for civil and criminal defamation.
To avoid the imminent legal struggle, both parties, through their lawyer, Johnson Usman, SAN, ordered Adeyanju to retract the statements and apologise in national publications and on social media.
