Babatunde Fashola, former minister of works and housing, has
petitioned the inspector-general of police over “defamatory” social media
posts.
The posts claim that he is drafting a favourable judgment
for the presidential election petition tribunal.
Recently, Jackson Ude and some Twitter users alleged that
Fashola and some lawyers of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were writing
the judgment which would be handed to the judges.
Reacting to the claim, the former minister described the
allegation as “baseless and defamatory”.
He added that those responsible for the posts are “agents of
destabilisation”.
In a petition addressed to the IGP and written by Olanrewaju
Akinsola, his counsel, Fashola said the allegation was peddled by Ude, Yoruba
Sheikh, and Reportera.NG, using the microblogging platform, Twitter.
The former Lagos governor said the claim has “excessively
breached the decent fundamentals of public enlightenment”, adding that the
allegation amounts to “character assassination”.
“It is the position
of our client that the publications by the said Jackson Ude, @yorubasheik, and
@ReporteraNew are false in their entirety and have excessively breached the
decent fundamentals of public enlightenment that freedom of the press is
constitutionally about,” the petition reads.
“It is our client’s position that the totality of the three
publications amount to nothing less than character assassination with a
calculated view to achieving damaging effects against him in his profession as
a legal practitioner.
“Having regard to the importance of judicial independence in
general and the sensitivity of the judicial proceeding of the presidential
election petition court in particular, it is the position of our Client that
the publications by the said Jackson Ude, @yorubasheik, and @ReporteraNew are
false.
“The allegations are made for the purpose of causing
inconvenience, danger, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred and needless
anxiety to our Client, contrary to the provisions of section 24 of the
Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.
“In the light of the
foregoing, we hereby request your office to cause the publications to be
investigated with utmost urgency and seriousness as they have implications not
only for the person of our client but for the independence, impartiality, and
integrity of the Nigerian judiciary which is guaranteed by Section 17 of the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.”
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