An Abuja High Court
sitting in Wuse Zone 2, has restrained former President Olusegun Obasanjo from
proceeding with plans to publish or have someone publish on his behalf, a new
autobiography entitled ‘My Watch.”
Justice Valentine Ashi made the order following an ex-parte application filed before him by a
chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-West, Mr. Buruji Kashamu.
The court granted the motion marked FCT/HC/M/2392/2014, on
Friday, after it listened to Kashamu’s lawyer, Dr. Alex Iziyon, SAN. Continue..
Iziyon had argued that the content of the book relates to issues
contained in the letter Obasanjo wrote to President Goodluck Jonathan and
former National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, on December 2, 2013
, where he alleged that Kashamu was a fugitive wanted in the United States of America.
He contended that since the content of the letter is the subject
matter of the libel suit his client filed against Obasanjo, which is still
pending before the high court, it would be wrong for the ex-president to be
allowed to proceed to comment on, write books about or make publications on the
issue yet to be decided by the court.
The ruling
While delivering his ruling on the matter, Justice Ashi
specifically restrained ex-President Obasanjo from either publishing the book
or have it published on his behalf by anybody, pending the determination of the
substantive suit pending before him.
According to the court, “the defendant, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
whether by himself, his agents, servants, privies or any other person by
whatever name called and howsoever described, is hereby restrained from
publishing or caused to be published in the yet to published book, ‘My watch’
or any autobiography or biography and any extracts of same, by whatever name
called or howsoever titled, pending the hearing and determination of the motion
on notice hereof.”
Besides, Justice Ashi equally restrained Obasanjo, his agents or
privies, “from further writing, printing, publishing or causing to be published
or printed or circulated, or otherwise, publishing of and concerning the
plaintiff, the statement contained in the Daily Sun (pages 47-49) and The Leadership newspapers (pages 3 to 8) of December 12, 2013
and which statements are alleged to have reproduced the letter written by the
defendant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria entitled: “Before
it is too late’ or similar statements pending the determination of the motion
on notice.”
However, before adjourning the case to December 10, the Judge ordered the applicant to
“execute a bond with the Registrar of the court to pay such damages as shall be
assessed should it turn out that the order ought not to have been granted in
the first place.”
It will be recalled that Kashamu had dragged Obasanjo to court
for defamation and character assassination, immediately the content of his
letter to President Jonathan was made public.
He told the court that the defendant (Obasanjo) “maliciously and recklessly
published a letter titled, ‘Before it is too late,’ which he said contained
words which he (Obasanjo) knew to be false.
In his writ of summons, Kashamu stated that the criminal
imputation made against him by Obasanjo in his letter, greatly “murdered” his
reputation.
Consequently, he is praying the court to award the cost of
N20billion against the ex-President to cover for the damage he has suffered as
a result of the “malicious” allegations contained in the letter.
More so, he is praying the court for; “A declaration that the
words complained of and published by the plaintiff against the defendant in a
letter titled: “Before it is too late,” addressed to Dr. Goodluck E. Jonathan
and dated December 2, 2013, which inter-alia carried criminal imputation
against the plaintiff and published in several newspapers on December 12 is defamatory of the person of the
plaintiff.
“An order awarding the sum of N20 billion only to the plaintiff
against the defendants as aggravated and exemplary damages against the
defendant for libel falsely and maliciously published by the defendant against
the plaintiff in the said letter.
As well as for, “An order of perpetual injunction restraining
the defendant, his agents, servants or privies from publishing or further
publishing or cause to be published any defamatory words against the plaintiff
to any person or persons; and the sum of N100 million as cost of this action”.
Meantime, the suit had culminated into a war-of-words
between the duo, with the plaintiff alleging before the court that the
erstwhile President is a school drop out.
Irked by the fact that Obasanjo had in his statement of defence to the suit
described him as “a drug pusher with neither local or international
reputation”, Kashamu, fired back, calling the ex-president “a social misfit”.
“The plaintiff acknowledges that the defendant (Obasanjo),was a
poverty-stricken dropout from school and otherwise a social misfit who
eventually found fame and fortune by joining the Armed Forces of Nigeria and
benefitting disproportionately from opportunism of military adventure into
governance in Nigeria”, Kashamu averred before the court.
He told the court that “Obasanjo’s vaunted international
acclaim was tested in 2008 when the former President contested for the position
of the Secretary-General of the United Nation with a barely known diplomat from
Egypt.
“The defendant (Obasanjo) was put in his place as he failed to
fly the flag of the nation successfully and lost the contest disgracefully.”
Kashamu further insisted that Obasanjo’s claims in his statement
of defence constituted “an aggravation of the libel charge before the court”.
He said Obasanjo’s use of his “touted national and international
acclaim to malign more productive members of the society is uncalled for and
could be symptomatic of megalomania.”
On the other hand, the former President who had earlier resolved
not to personally testify in the matter, in his statement of defence, described
Kashamu as a notorious debtor and a man lacking in local and international
reputation.
He urged the court to dismiss the suit for being “frivolous, speculative
and gold digging”, adding that no reasonable cause of action was established
against him.
Obasanjo in his statement of defence to the N20billion libel
suit against him, stood his ground, saying he has no reason to retract the
words in the said letter as requested by Kashamu.
“The statement/words are correct, true and justified”, he
maintained, adding, “The plaintiff has no iota of good reputation locally and
internationally.
“Aside the plaintiff’s illicit drug business for which he was
indicted and wanted in America, the plaintiff has penchant for taking loans
from unsuspecting banks/financial institutions with intention to permanently
elude/avoid repayment or liquidation of such loans.
“Further to that, the plaintiff has been judicially
adjudged/confirmed a debtor by a competent court of law Cotonou, Republic of
Benin. And the plaintiff presently occupies a choice position on the Assets
Management Corporation of Nigeria’s list of notorious bad debtors.
“The plaintiff is a person, who with his true name/identity
supplied, will not be granted visa by the German government or any country of
the world having good
relationship with the United States of America”, Obasanjo added.
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