Chief of Staff to the suspended Rivers State Governor, Edison Ehie, has filed a N2bn libel suit against the former Head of Service in the state, Dr. George Nwaeke, and Channels Incorporated, owners of Channels Television.
The suit, filed at the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt, follows allegations aired on Channels Television on March 29, in which Nwaeke accused Ehie of orchestrating the fire that gutted the Rivers State House of Assembly complex.
He also alleged that Governor Siminalayi Fubara sponsored attacks on oil facilities and used the arson to prevent his impeachment.
Nwaeke further claimed he witnessed funds being handed over for the operation at the Government House and that the act was carried out on the instruction of Governor Fubara, with Ehie executing it in his then capacity as Chief of Staff.
Reacting through his legal team, Ehie described the allegations as “false and most disparaging,” stating that they had gravely damaged his reputation, character, and public standing.
He is seeking N2bn in general damages, a public retraction, and a formal apology to be broadcast on Channels TV and another national station, as well as publication in two widely read Nigerian newspapers.
Ehie also requested a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from further publishing the said defamatory statements.
Presiding judge, Justice Jumbo Stephens, granted leave for substituted service on Nwaeke through pasting of the court documents at his Port Harcourt residence and via publication in a national daily.
The matter was adjourned to April 10 for proof of service.
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