Defamation: NFF’s Director persecuting me, takes case to appeal court-Sports editor cries out
….Seeks N11.3m to defend case
By Core Reporters
Abuja (Core Reporters) In what looks like persecution, intimidation and attempt to gag sports journalists from reporting alleged corruption in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the director of competition in the glass house, Ruth David has again dragged the Managing Editor of Nigeria’s foremost online Sports Newspaper, Best Choice Sports, Amaechi Agbo to Appeal Court over a defamation suit which she lost at the FCT high Court.
Recall that Ms David on June 25, 2024 lost her defamation suit against Mr Agbo at the FCT High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja. And if that was not enough she has taken the matter to appeal court reasons not too far from trying to gag the press using Agbo’s torture to send a wrong signal to those who have the minds to expose corruption in the glass house, if any.
In the suit number CV/546/2019 filed on December 9, 2019, presiding Justice O. A Adeniyi held that the claimant failed to prove her case of defamation and therefore dismissed the suit for lack of merit.
Reacting to the development, the Managing Editor, Best Choice Sports in a chat with Core Reporters expressed shock that miss David could vo that far considering that the matter was fairly adjudicated on by the originating court. However, he described the appeal as an act to intimidate, harass and persecute him for standing firm against maladministration in Nigeria football.
Meanwhile, Agbo said, he needs a minimum of ₦11.345 million to defend the suit, adding that he has been battling depression and psychological trauma as a result of this, he therefore, called on well-meaning Nigerians to come to his aid. He also, called on legal aid council of Nigeria and other kind hearted lawyers to wade in.
“I was shocked when I got a call sometime in August from a bailiff who told me she was from Appeal Court and that she has processes to serve on me. The address she told me was not the address of my office and potentially that was why she called. I directed her to my lawyer’s office.
“I was shocked to see that she is going on appeal because the originating court had dispensed justice fairly and justifiably. One interesting thing about this development is that she sacked her former lawyer and engaged the services of a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN. If you are knowledgeable about Nigeria’s legal system you would know that to engage a SAN in a case costs a fortune and that is where I am worried if there are more to this case than I am aware of.
“I am outtightly being persecuted, victimised, intimidated and tortured. To make matters worse, I can’t afford the services of SAN. But as it stands, I need not less than ₦11.345 million to defend this case. For over a month now, I am suffering depression and psychological trauma because I do not know where and how I am going to raise the money for the defence of the case. I really need help. I need Nigerians to come to my aid. I have been practising journalism for over 15 years, the said story I published was a programme aired on Channels Television which I quoted succinctly. This case has been on since December 9, 2019. It has drained me financially. I really need help,” he said.
Mr Agbo lamented that his lawyers have threatened not to represent him at the appeal unless their outstanding and current legal fees are paid.
“That is my dilemma. I have not finished paying the legal fees at the High Court which is ₦1.5 million. Now this one has come up again, I do not know where to start from,” he concluded.
Core Reporters understand that the action of Ruth David, NFF Director of Competitions may not be directing to Mr. Agbo alone, rather its a plot by the secretariat of the NFF to gag sporting journalists from reporting the maladministration, and corruption in the sector because they felt the journalists will find it difficult to defend themselves, while they leverage on tax payers’ money at their disposal.
