A former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, has demanded that the management of Media Trust Limited โ publishers ofย Daily Trustย and other publications โ enter into a negotiation with him for possible settlement of N6bn for defamation of character.
Fani-Kayode said this in a letter addressed to the Managing Director ofย Daily Trust, dated August 31, 2020 and titled, โDefamation of the character of Chief Femi Fani-Kayode by Iliyasu Gadu.โ
The letter, which was signed by the former ministerโs lawyer, Adeola Adesipe, was in response to an article titled, โFFK, the Drug Addled Thug in Designer Wearsโ dated August 30, 2020 and published by the medium.
In the article, which was published in the newspaper, the writer lambasted Fani-Kayode for his conduct during a Press conference in which heย described aย Daily Trustย reporter in Calabar, Eyo Charles, as โstupidโย after the journalist asked question about the identity ofย persons โbankrollingโ his current tour of southern states.
Gadu, the writer of the article, claimed that Fani-Kayode, who attended Cambridge University, was once โa drug addictโ and had sought rehabilitation in Ghana, but โtill today has not been cured of the habit.โ
In his pre-litigation letter, however, Fani-Kayode described the article as libelous and demanded an apology from the newspaper, which must be published in other national dailies.
The former minister also demanded that negotiation be entered into for possible payment of N6bn due to the irreparable loss the article had caused him.
It reads in part, โBe aware that our client has not only suffered immeasurable loss of goodwill, he is currently confronted with unbearable opprobrium by his fans, followers and colleagues across the globe.
โOur client is alive to his rights both in law and equity but is disposed to an opportunity to undo the evil you have done by retracting the said insalubrious remarks on the same platform it was published and apologising to him in two other national dailies.
โYou are also advised to enter into negotiations with us for the sum of N6bn being a token amount for penitence as opposed to the magnitude of infraction caused to our clientโs nobility.โ
The newspaper was given 14 days to comply or face legal action.
Fani-Kayode also wrote a similar letter to Gadu, who authored the article.
The former minister drew theย ire of several Nigerians recently after a viral video showed him talking down at a journalist, an incident he has apologised for.
However, the Nigeria Union of Journalists, as well as many other civil organisations, have continued to criticise Fani-Kayode, while many reporters have boycotted his ongoing tour of the southern states.
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