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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Former Commissioner for Science and Technology in Lagos State Mr Olufemi Odubiyi has threatened to sue Chief Olabode George for defamation to the tune of N1 billion if he fails to retract his defamatory comments within seven days.
Mr Odubiyi has also demanded that Chief George tender an unreserved apology and publishes it on the cover pages of three national dailies.
Mr Ayodele Akintunde, SAN, who is Mr Odubiyi’s lawyer, made this known in a letter addressed to George on March 17 and made available to newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday.
Akintunde also threatened to sue Arise Media Group and George for the same amount in damages if they fail to comply with the demand. The lawyer alleged that in an interview on Arise TV on March 10, Chief George accused Mr Odubiyi of being a mole planted in the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the President-elect, Bola Tinubu of All Progressives Congress (APC) to subvert the will of the Nigerian electorate in the Feb. 25 presidential election.
The senior lawyer corrected the erroneous assumption that Mr Odubiyi was INEC’s head of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Department and was responsible for the hitches with INEC’s computers during the presidential poll which resulted in the commission’s inability to transmit results electronically.
Akintunde described Mr Odubiyi as “a right-standing and reputable member of society and a well-meaning citizen of Nigeria with numerous years of experience locally and internationally as an IT expert without any blemish.”
Mr Akintunde stated that the defamatory comments had caused Mr Odubiyi considerable distress, anxiety, and embarrassment, including threats to his person and that of his family members. He demanded that George retract his statement and tender an unreserved apology within seven days. Failure to comply and provide proof of compliance would result in legal action against them for monetary damages in the sum of N1 billion.
On March 14, INEC denied Chief George’s claim that Mr Odubiyi was the commission’s director of the ICT Department, stating that no member of its ICT staff or personnel across its state offices bears the name “Femi Odubiyi” as referred to by the PDP chieftain.
