‎Aiyedatiwa’s Commissioner Drags 35 APC Elders To Court Over Libel

‎The Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Omowunmi Isaac, and her brother, Kunle Odide, have dragged 35 All Progressives Congress (APC) elders to the Ondo State High Court over an alleged libellous publication.

‎The suit came up for hearing on Tuesday before Justice Yemi Fasanmi of the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure, the state capital.

‎The court also awarded N100,000 costs against the claimants in favour of each of the 35 defendants, totalling N3.5 million, following an application by the claimants to correct some defects in the processes filed before the court.

‎The defendants had earlier prepared to challenge the jurisdiction of the court and the competence of the processes through a preliminary objection before the claimants filed the application seeking to amend their processes.

‎At the proceedings, Adekola Olawoye (SAN), a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state and the first defendant in the suit, appeared as counsel for himself and about seven other defendants, while other lawyers represented the remaining defendants.

‎The defendants, who are APC leaders and elders from the same local government as the claimants, also expressed their readiness to resolve the matter amicably rather than allow the dispute to further deepen divisions within the party.

‎Speaking after the proceedings, Olawoye said the crux of the suit was a letter he wrote and couriered directly to the National Chairman of the APC, insisting that the action was within his legal right as a party member.

‎He said the letter was not published to any third party but was written to draw the attention of the party’s national leadership to what he described as “funny developments” within the APC in their local government.

‎Olawoye further alleged that the claimants had earlier petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over the matter, leading to the invitation of the defendants to Abuja on March 24, 2026.

‎He said, “At the end of the day, the Honourable Commissioner of Police in charge of the IGP Special Team saw no reason for detaining us. We were merely warned and advised. We went back home.”

‎The SAN said efforts had been made to resolve the dispute out of court, adding that the defendants had reached out to relevant authorities in the state, but the moves had yet to yield the desired result.

‎He said, “As an elder of the party, you must know that I will accommodate settlement. We made moves. We talked to the authorities concerned in the state. But they feel otherwise.”

‎Olawoye also appealed to APC members to close ranks ahead of the 2027 general elections, stressing that internal disagreements should not distract the party from its political objectives.

‎He said, “Now that we have a big election coming up that concerns the President of this country, we must not give room for anything to disunite us, to set us apart. Our goal now, our target, is that Tinubu must win.”

‎However, counsel to the claimants, Olaoluwa Imoru, said the suit was based on an alleged libellous publication authored, signed and caused to be published by the 35 defendants in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper of February 2, 2026.

‎Imoru said the claimants were seeking declarations that the publication was “extremely defamatory,” “disparaging” and “needless,” as well as aggravated, special and general damages over the alleged injury to their reputation.

‎He said the claimants were also demanding a retraction and apology, stressing that “nothing short of a letter of retraction and an apology will be acceptable.”

‎According to him, one of the expressions considered defamatory was the reference to the first claimant as the governor’s “mummy”, which he argued allegedly created the impression that she exercised undue authority or influence over Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

‎Imoru said, “We are saying, invariably, that this person exercised a kind of authority or power on His Excellency, the governor. And that is not the case here. She is an appointee of the governor. She is subservient to the governor, she is answerable to the governor and not the other way around.”

‎The counsel maintained that the claimants had chosen to seek redress through the court rather than resort to self-help, arguing that the alleged publication had injured their reputation.

‎Justice Fasanmi adjourned the case until October 8, 2026, for further proceedings.