A socio-political pressure group, Osun Democrats for Democracy (ODD), has threatened to press defamation and libel charges against those spreading fake news about the Chief of Staff to the Osun State Governor, Hon Kazeem Akinkeye over a contract awarded to Akinkas Nigeria limited by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND).
In a statement signed by its Coordinator, Mr James Bangbose, the group affirmed that any group or platforms that persisted in spreading fake news against the Chief of Staff should be prepared to defend its offensive publication or post in the court of law.
According to the group, two senior Legal practitioners have been engaged to find out the identities of those spreading the fake news and charge them to court with a request for damages to the tune of Five Billion Naira (N5 Billion).
“Our intervention in this matter stems from what we know about the Chief of Staff and the said company. We can affirm that Hon Akinleye was a rich contractor long before his appointment as Chief of Staff to Governor Adeleke. He is a businessman with interests in various sectors of the economy.
“As a law abiding citizen, he resigned his directorship from the company before appointment as a Chief of Staff. He also complied with ethical requests by avoiding contract solicitation or influence peddling for the said company or any other ones in line with requirements of the law.
“After his exit from the company, the new directors took over its affairs,running ongoing and new contracts across federal agencies. As of 2022, the said company has been in operation for 15 years with high profile jobs at several federal agencies and ministries such as UBEC, TETFUND, REA, NEPZA and several others.
“Are critics saying the company should fold up because Hon Kazeem is the Chief of Staff? Is a company with such a profile banned from further operation at federal.level because a former director is a Chief of Staff at the State level? Is Hon Kazeem a board member of TETFUND of Uniosun?”, the group queried.
Affirming that the Chief of Staff has complied with the requirements of the law and we challenged those spreading the fake news to be ready for defamation lawsuits.
“ We also note with anger a publication by another faceless group leveling so many unfounded allegations including a postulation that the Chief of Staff is milking the mining sector as a board member on the state mining board. This is another lie for which we are currently tracking those who signed the release to come and provide evidence on the allegation.
“The state government is implementing mining reforms for which the expertise of the Chief of Staff has helped the state in many ways. Hon Akinleye has not been paid a dime and has never collected a single kobo for his service in supporting the drive to sanitize the mining sector.
“When we are done with unmasking members of those faceless organizations, we will take appropriate legal actions against them as well as the medium and platforms used for the spreading of the fake news”, the group posited.
The Democrats for Democracy posited that those attacking the Chief of Staff are those without jobs and verifiable means of livelihood, hence their attacks on a successful businessman who complied with the law before holding public office.
“Our patron, Hon Akinleye was not a jobless politician before his assumption of office. He is well to do and a successful. We will deploy the law to punish peddlers of fake news”, the group warned.