Teslim Folarin, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in the forthcoming governorship election in Oyo State, has sued TheCable Newspaper for a story allegedly published by the news outlet.
According to a letter signed on Monday by Adebayo A.T Esq., on behalf of Abiodun Adebayo & Co, the representatives of Folarin, it is alleged that Thecable is poor hence, engaged in publishing defamatory articles for a monetary gain, which it alleged it seeks to rubbish the reputation of their client as “a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
The publication had claimed that the governorship candidate had taken the sister of Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as his new wife most likely for his governorship ambition because of Malami’s stronghold in the APC.
Quoting the letter; “The publication is calculated to demean, malign and downgrade the person of our client in the mind of ordinary members of the society for no reason other than for monetary gain and publicity which your stable currently lacks.
“The Cable had in an online report — ‘Why Top Politician, Teslim Folarin took AGF Malami’s Sister as a New Wife,’ published on Monday, June 13, said that governorship candidate had taken the sister of Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, as his new wife.
“You would recall that Senator Folarin has been a super politician for a long time and he enjoys large support base, which he can conveniently rely on at anytime for his political aspiration. He did not need the patronage and/or the influence of anyone before he achieved politically.
“By your publication, you have widely circulated falsehood because our client is not married to the sister of AGF Malami and/or any other woman as the demise of his beloved wife is still fresh in his mind.
“There is no denying the fact that Mr. Malami, SAN, is a Minister to President of the Federal Republic, the only relationship that our client enjoys with him is like every other politician while the AGF does not concern himself with politics and did not at any anytime influence any action in favour of our client.
“It is for your stable to supply the general public the source of your information about the purported marriage, our client is not eager to settle down with any woman and has not projected himself as doing such…
“The entire contents of your publication was targeted at our client and to say the least, highly defamatory. Pointedly, you maliciously caused the online publication knowing fully well same was false, but intending to rubbish our client’s reputation as a distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Now, the legal firm is demanding that to assuage Folarin, the medium should “publish an apology in three national newspapers; a written undertaking not to engage in such unprofessional conduct in the future, and pay the sum of N10billion “being damages for the negative effects of your publication on our client”, the letter added.
Meanwhile, TheCable, had in a statement released on Tuesday, refuted the charges that it had published a libelous narrative against Folarin on Monday.
“Our attention has been drawn to publications by Ibadan-based blogs purporting that Teslim Folarin, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has sued TheCable newspaper for N10 billion over a ‘libelous story,’” TheCable stated.
“While we await official communication from Folarin’s lawyers, we want to assure our readers and well-wishers that at no time did TheCable publish the story being attributed to us.
“Those who read and follow TheCable are well aware that we do not publish celebrity gossip beyond what they make public via their social media handles. Even the language and style of the report in question are distinctly different from TheCable’s.
“While we thank those who have been contacting us out of concern, we assure everyone that our lawyers will mount a robust defense against the false accusation, and any forgery, in a court of law”, it added.
In the meantime, an investigative news outlet, Foundation for Investigative Journalism has however confirmed that the story in question referred to by Folarin and his lawyers and titled: ‘Why Top Politician, Teslim Folarin took AGF Malami’s sister as new wife’, was indeed published by TheCapital as a breaking story on Monday, which is yet to be pulled down.
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