[size=14pt]Re: For the attention of General Buhari[/size]

Thursday, 11 July 2013 00:00 Editor

SIR: “On April 22, 2011, The Guardian Newspaper published an article on page 51 titled “For the attention of General Buhari” wherein certain allegations were made against General Muhammadu Buhari’s alleged role in the violence emanating from the elections.

   The publication was based on information which we believed to be reliable at that time. Since the publication, however, we now have reason to believe that certain parts of the story were not verified to be correct before the publication.

  We assure General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) GCFR of our highest esteem and regret any distress or embarrassment which the said publication may have caused him.”

— Editor

[size=14pt]Post Election Violence: Buhari Threatens To Sue Reuben Abati For Libel[/size]

by MAYOWAAK: 10:59pm On Jul 17, 2011

Barely a week after his appointment as chief spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, Reuben Abati is having his first taste of political and legal heat. Muhammadu Buhari, former military head of state and presidential candidate for Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has threatened to drag Mr. Abati, until recently a columnist as well as chairman of the editorial board of the Guardian, to court for an alleged libel.

Mr. Buhari is miffed over a column Mr. Abati penned alleging that Mr. Buhari's campaign slogans were the cause of the post-election violence after the April 2011 presidential polls.

In a letter sent to Abati by Tope Adebayo, Mr. Buhari gave the new presidential aide one week to retract the libelous column or face a libel suit.

In a statement that accompanied the letter, Buhari's spokesperson, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said that all those who peddled falsehood against the former head of state must pay for their actions, adding that Mr. Abati is one of such individuals.

Prior to Mr. Abati’s appointment as presidential spokesman to Mr. Goodluck Jonathan, he wrote a series of columns in the Guardian that were apparently in preparation for his recent appointment. It was in one of the pro-Jonathan columns that he made the allegations against Mr. Buhari.

http://saharareporters.com/news-page/post-election-violence-buhari-threatens-sue-reuben-abati-libel

Maxymilliano: The presidency has convinced former head of state General Muhammadu Buhari to settle out of court the libel suit he had initiated against the special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Dr Reuben Abati.

Abati had on page 51 of the April 22, 2011, edition of The Guardian newspaper, written an opinion article entitled “For the attention of General Buhari”. In it, he claimed that Buhari made an inciting statement which led to the post-election violence that rocked some parts of the north.

The former presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), however, regarded the publication as defamatory, intended to lower his integrity and to bring him into public ridicule. Buhari consequently dragged Abati and The Guardian to court via suit no. ID/837/2011 and demanded N1billion damages from them.

But in a copy of the Terms of Settlement exclusively obtained by LEADERSHIP SUNDAY and filed before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, the parties have agreed to settle the matter out of court.

In the terms of settlement dated December 2012 and filed before the administrative judge of Lagos State, Justice Opeyemi Oke, the claimant (Buhari), Mr. Tope Adebayo ( lawyer to Buhari), Abati and Mr. Kunle Sanyaolu (lawyer to The Guardian) signed the terms of settlement. But the lawyer to the firstdefendant (Abati), Dame Carol Ajie, declined to sign the document.

The document quoted the claimant and defendants as having explored the option of amicable settlement of the suit and agreed that, by virtue of the execution of the terms ofsettlement, all issues relating to the suit should be determined.

The parties further agreed that Abati and The Guardian should retract and apologise to Buhari in certain form and contents.

The terms of settlement reads in part: “The claimant (Buhari) and defendants (Abati and The Guardian) have agreed that the defendants should publish a retraction and anapology to the claimant on the Opinion Page of the newspaper, to be printed in reverse lineblack (RLB) within seven days of entering the Consent Terms as the judgment of the court in two editions of The Guardian.

“The claimant and defendants have agreed and resolved that the retraction and apology shall take the following form and contents: ‘Re: For the attention of General Buhari’- On April 22, 2011, The Guardian Newspaper published an article on Page 51 titled ‘For the attention of General Buhari’ where certain allegations were made against General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), GCFR, concerning the 2011 election and General Buhari’s alleged role in the violence emanating from the elections.

“The publication was based on information which we believed to be reliable at that time. Since the publication, however, we now have reason to believe that certain parts of the story were not verified to be correct before the publication.

“We assure General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd),GCFR, of our highest esteem and regret any distress or embarrassment which the said publication may have caused him.

“The claimant and defendants agree that on the execution of these Terms of Settlement, the defendants are discharged from all or any liabilities or obligations arising from the said publication.”

Abati had stirred the hornet’s nest in the said column when he wrote that Buhari made an inciting statement after the 2011 presidential poll thus: “You should never leave polling centres until polls are counted and the winner declared and you should lynch anybody that tries to tinker with the votes.”


http://www.leadership.ng/nga/articles/44864/2013/01/13/libel_presidency_begs_buhari.html

Demdem: I won't be surprise if it was Pointb that sold the lie to them.
Anyway, its good that they have seen the light.

jmaine: Still doesn't change Buhari obnoxious image of been unelectable in Nigeria

Next Please . . .

plaindealer:



Says the Almighty spokesman for tens of millions of Nigerian voters and electorates.

take dat: Is @PointB the brain behind PointBlank News?

jmaine:

Eko Ile . . . It is now a paradigm in the Nigerian polity . . .

If you want to test the theory . . Do us a great favour by propping him up for the presidency and get the usual verdict of rejection from the Nigerian populace . . ,

Na today . . . .

Demdem: I won't be surprise if it was Pointb that sold the lie to them.
Anyway, its good that they have seen the light.

plaindealer:


I'm Plaindealer and not eko ile, send eko ile a private message to show your love and affection for him if he's really on your mind..


There's absolutely no need to prop him up for anything, he commandeered 12 million votes during the last election and his party was barely six months old, that was a major accomplishment and with four years of planning, improved political structure and alliances, I see him tripling his previous numbers and even winning hands down.

All you have is flawed and sentimental political opinion, but not political realities based on facts and numbers..

naptu2:

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126723%3Are-for-the-attention-of-general-buhari-&catid=77%3Aletters&Itemid=613#.Ud6sCDHgyY4.facebook

jmaine:

Eko Ile . . . Facts and numbers showed he failed with a wide margin and he has always failed severally. So what fact are you yapping about ?

There is no need for too much grand standing and noise making, simply prop him for the presidency and get the usual verdict of the Nigerian electorates which is a resounding NO

That's all

homesteady: I will never forget that day!! After the election!! It was like a planned stuff!! Street boys from different areas were brought in buses to my area!! Then they started burning tires!! They were cooking tires in big drums that police use for road blocks!! Small small almagiris were bringing tires from valcanizers shops!!
They started going to christains shops and houses!! Burning them!! Some travellers even jumped into my compound!! Thank GOD for our neighbour, he stopped them when they were coming to burn our house!!
They even destroyed 7up's cup that was filled with drinks!!

They were shouting SAI BUHARI!!
Policemen came!! But there was no effect!! Until after about 2 hours, soldiers came!! Then they ran away!!
My area is Naibawa, Zaira Road, kano!

So I don't need a magician to tell me Buhari's people were not involved!!

ajakada:

I was also at Naibawa that day, but what you dont understand is just because they were shouting BUHARI does not mean it was BUHARI that asked them to do what they did. There was no way Buhari will do that. This is a person who fought for this country, Buhari love this country, He cried for us and this country. Please people let us reason! Please let us put religion, tribe and any other thing that is dividing us aside and move our country forward once and for all, we owe it to our children and grandchildren.