Deji Adeyanju, a human rights lawyer, reversed the alleged defamatory remarks he made on Friday against Senator Samuel Anyanwu and Umar Damagun, the interim National Chairman and National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Adeyanju expressed regret for the defamation in a letter dated 6 December from his legal practice, Deji Adeyanju & Partners, which was signed by Zainab Otega.
In his letter to Damagun and Anyanwu’s attorney, Johnson Usman, SAN, Otega claimed that the remarks “were not meant to defame your clients.”
She went on to say that any impression of defamation in the aforementioned words is regrettable and has been withdrawn with an apology.
“We are solicitors to Deji Adeyanju, Esq. (henceforth referred to as our client), on whose instruction we act,” the letter states. The renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria, J. J. Usman, sent two letters to our client claiming that some of the things he said on a podcast a few weeks ago were seen to be disparaging to Damagun and Anyanwu, the National Chairman and Secretary of the PDP, respectively.
“The remarks made by our client on the podcast were extracted from the larger discussion context, which is the necessity for the People’s Democratic Party leadership to offer a strong opposition to the ruling party.
“As a human rights activist, our client is still dedicated to the advancement of Nigeria and will keep pressing those in power to put the interests of Nigerians ahead of their own. “These statements were not meant to disparage your clients, and any sense of defamation in the aforementioned statements is regretted and withdrawn with apologies.”
Adeyanju had charged on Wednesday that Anyanwu had served “Kilishi” and Damagun had served tea in the home of Femi Gbajabiamila, the chief of staff for President Bola Tinubu.
While revealing Tinubu’s intentions to install a PDP presidential candidate before the general elections in 2027, he made the assertions.
According to Adeyanju, who appeared on The Honest Bunch podcast, Tinubu’s cronies in the PDP are Damagum and Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory.
The current PDP is in Wike’s pocket at the national level, he claimed, installing the party’s national chairman, who visits Femi Gbajabiamila’s home to serve tea. The PDP’s National Secretary, Sam Anyanwu, serves Kilishi in the kitchen while Damagum serves tea; they are the PDP’s leaders.
These are Tinubu’s moles, similar to the APC mole Abure in LP. The system is not being challenged because there is no opposition. Except for a handful of us, who else is speaking?
Following the claims, Damagun and Anyanwu vowed to take Adeyanju to court for both civil and criminal cases related to the alleged defamatory statements.
Through their attorney, Johnson Usman, SAN, both parties requested that Adeyanju take back the remarks and issue a heartfelt apology in national newspapers and on social media to avoid the impending legal battle.
