Obasanjo
Buruji
Odogwuemekaodogwu.com
reports that there was tension at the Federal Capital Territory High Court presided
over by Justice Valentine Ashi when former President Olusegun Obasanjo and a
chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-West, Mr. Buruji
Kashamu engaged in a fresh war-of-words, with the plaintiff , Kashamu alleging
before the court that the erstwhile President was a school dropout.
Justice Ashi has fixed July 28 to commence
hearing on the N20billion libel suit instituted against former President
Olusegun Obasanjo by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the
South-West, Mr. Buruji Kashamu, odogwuemekaodogwu.com reports .
Piqued
by the fact that Obasanjo in his statement of defence to the suit, described
him as “a drug pusher with neither local nor international reputation”, Kashamu
fired back, calling the ex-president ”a social misfit.”
”The
plaintiff acknowledges that the defendant (Obasanjo),was a poverty-stricken
dropout from school and otherwise a social misfit who eventually found fame and
fortune by joining the Armed Forces of Nigeria and benefitting
disproportionately from opportunism of military adventure into governance in
Nigeria.”
Kashamu told
the court that “Obasanjo’s vaunted international acclaim was tested in 2008
when the former President contested for the position of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations with a barely known diplomat from Egypt. The defendant
(Obasanjo) was put in his place as he failed to fly the flag of the nation
successfully and lost the contest disgracefully.”
Kashamu
insisted that Obasanjo’s claims in his statement of defence constituted “an
aggravation of the libel charge before the court.”
He said
Obasanjo’s use of his “touted national and international acclaim to malign more
productive members of the society is uncalled for and could be symptomatic of
megalomania.”
Meanwhile,
the former President who had earlier resolved not to personally testify in the
matter, had in his statement of defence, described Kashamu as a notorious
debtor and a man lacking in local and international reputation.
He urged the
court to dismiss the suit for being “frivolous, speculative and gold digging”,
insisting that no reasonable cause of action was established against him.
Kashamu had
in his suit, claimed that Obasanjo, ‘murdered’ his reputation via a letter he
(Obasanjo), sent to both President Goodluck Jonathan and the immediate past
National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.
Kashamu told
the court that the defendant, maliciously and recklessly published a letter
titled, “Before it is too late,” which he said contained distorted facts.
He argued
that the criminal imputation made against him by Obasanjo in his letter,
greatly injured his public image.
He prayed
the court to award in his favour, and against the ex-President, N20 billion for
the damage suffered as a result of the allegation.
The
plaintiff told the court that the former president specifically referred to him
in the said letter as a fugitive wanted in the United States.
However, in
his statement of defence, Obasanjo stood his ground, saying he had no reason to
retract the words in the said letter as requested by Kashamu.
”The
statement/words are correct, true and justified”, he maintained, adding, “The
plaintiff has no iota of good reputation locally and internationally.
“Aside the
plaintiff’s illicit drug business for which he was indicted and wanted in
America, the plaintiff has penchant for taking loans from unsuspecting
banks/financial institutions with intention to permanently elude/avoid
repayment or liquidation of such loans.
”Further to
that, the plaintiff has been judicially adjudged/confirmed a debtor by a
competent court of law in Cotonou, Republic of Benin. And the plaintiff
presently occupies a choice position on the Assets Management Corporation of
Nigeria’s list of notorious bad debtor.”
Vanguard
Why Obasanjo Was A School Dropout, PDP Chieftain Kashamu Tells Court
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Monday, June 16, 2014
Rating:

No comments: