The Nigeria’s Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has finally commenced legal actions against two individuals who stake their names to the alleged libel and character defamation against his personality in a recent newspaper report.
They are Timi Frank and Katch Onanuju, both believed to be, one way or the other, associates of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the February 2019 election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.
Timi Frank particularly has his name attached to a Vanguard report dripping a huge and damaging allegations that Osinbajo collected N90 billion from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and used same to execute the last elections in the South West in favour of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Vice President did not however sue Vanguard but only gave it 24 hours to retract the report and apologise to him, which the newspaper has swiftly complied with.
Announcing the legal move against Timi Frank via his Twitter handle on Wednesday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said: “I have today instructed the commencement of legal action against two individuals, one Timi Frank and another Katch Onanuju, who have put their names against these odious falsehoods.”
This now discovered to be fake corruption allegation by Frank and co is the worst effective of several such attempts to set President Muhammadu Buhari and his deputy, Osinbajo, against each other in the last four years.
But many observers of events say the latest by these desperate opposition members, Nigerian government should stand its ground to let everybody understand that nobody has liberty to hide behind freedom of information or the press to carry fake news or lay unsubstantiated corruption or criminal allegations against the other except that he faces the wrath of the law.
