Jega withdraws libel suit against Nigerian newspaper

Jega withdraws libel suit against
Nigerian newspaper

The Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission,
INEC, Attahiru Jega, has asked his
lawyers to discontinue a libel suit
instituted against Dom
Communications Limited, publishers
of Nigerian Pilot newspaper, and its
Editor-in-Chief, Dennis Sami.

This followed the parties’ agreement
to terms of an out of court settlement.
The Chief Press Secretary to the
INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu,
made the disclosure on Saturday.

In the Nigerian Pilot editions of
August 28 and November 25, 2013,
the newspaper published stories
under the caption “Exposed!: Jega’s
dirty deals”. The stories contained
alleged fraudulent deals the electoral
chief was involved in.
But Mr. Jega denied the allegations
and filed a libel suit demanding
retraction as well as public apology.

He also demanded N7 million as
general and aggravated damages. When the matter last came up at the
High Court of the Federal Capital
Territory on December 3, the parties
informed the court that negotiations
were on to resolve the matter.

According to Mr. Idowu, the parties
finally agreed to terms of settlement.

Consequently, the newspaper and its
Editor-in-Chief published a retraction
and apology in three national
newspapers, namely the Nigerian
Pilot, ThisDay and Daily Trust.

The
publications appeared in the January
13 edition of the Nigerian Pilot, and
the January 14 editions of ThisDay
and Daily Trust newspapers.

One of Mr. Jega’s lawyers also
confirmed that the defendants paid an
undisclosed amount as part of the
settlement.
With the commitment of the
defendants to the terms of settlement,

“Professor Jega has instructed that
the action be discontinued,” Mr.
Idowu said.

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