Alleged Defamation: I’m Ready For You, Lukman Dares Omisore
The Vice Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the North West, Salihu Lukman, has reacted to the threat by the party’s National Secretary, Iyiola Omisore, to sue him for defamation.
Naija News reported that Lukman had in an interview on AIT Television on Tuesday, called on Omisore and the party’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Adamu, to resign from his position.
Omisore and Lukman, who are both members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling party, have been at loggerheads, over the composition of the
Lukman also accused Omisore of mismanaging campaign funds meant for the Osun governorship election which the APC lost to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
But in a letter dated March 15 and addressed to Lukman, counsel to Omisore, Gboyega Oyewole (SAN) said Lukman’s comment is false and was aimed at maligning his client’s character.
The APC Secretary through his legal counsel threatened to drag Lukman to court if he fails to apologize and pay 500 million naira within two days.
But in a statement on Thursday, Lukman stated that he has also instructed his lawyers to respond appropriately to Omisore’s legal threat, adding that he is ready for the legal battle.
He said: “Since Sen. Omisore’s response to the request for accountability is to threaten legal action, I have also instructed my lawyers to respond appropriately to his legal threat.
“I am in receipt of the letter from Lords & Temple, signed by Mr. Oyewole, dated 15th March, 2023 (the letter was actually wrongly dated 15th March 2022).”
Lukman said he stands by his call for the resignation of Adamu and Omisore in the interest of justice, fairness, and equity, adding that Omisore had sent him abusive messages.
He added: “I make this appeal respectfully and without any ill-feeling to anyone, including Sen. Omisore. I stand by my position that Sen. Omisore is unable to unite party leaders and members in Osun State, which is responsible for why we lost the election.
“He is opposed to any demand for accountability and is resorting to acts of intimidation to perhaps manipulate processes of appointment into the Asiwaju-led federal government.
“Finally, after 24 years of uninterrupted democracy, we must not shy away from initiatives that will strengthen internal contest within our party, APC. Part of the big challenge of Nigeria’s democracy is that internal contest is being destroyed. As a result, we produced situations where some leaders act as tyrants.
“Anyone who expresses views that are not in harmony with thinking of some leaders is condemned. This attitude is responsible for the destruction of PDP as a party and is gradually being entrenched in our party. There should be conscious effort to call these leaders to order!
“Both as party leaders and Nigerians, we must wake up to the reality that negotiation to form the next APC government under the leadership of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu must depart from the conventional approach of allowing leaders to emerge based on individual aspirations. We cannot risk any further complication of entrenchment of the existing religiously lopsided Muslim-Muslim identity of Asiwaju Tinubu and Sen. Shettima. No legal threat should distract us from addressing this challenge.”
This article was originally published on Naija News