Former Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has called upon Mkor Aondona, the Special Adviser to the current Governor on Research and Documentation, to retract the recent allegations of financial misconduct he made against him.
He added that should Aondona fail to do so, he must be prepared to substantiate his claims in a court of law.
Naijaonpoint reports that formal notice from Ortom’s legal representative, Barr. S. E. Irabor, was sent to Aondona and delivered through the office of the Secretary to the Benue State Government. The notice asserts that Aondona’s actions constitute cyberstalking, criminal defamation, malicious falsehood, and libellous online publication against the former governor.
Irabor stated: “On November 8, 2024, you published a damaging post on your Facebook page (Mkor Aondona Donatus) with the title – ‘May God Almighty Never Allow The Wickedness Of An Ortom To Overshadow His Glory!
“What followed this banal headline was a godless cacophony of mischievous, malicious and malevolent webs of lies that bothered on the utterly ridiculous.”
He went further to allege that Mkor’s publication on social media deeply harmed Ortom’s hard-earned reputation in the eyes of the public.
“By your deliberate design, you ensured that these defamatory and libellous falsehoods received prominent attention on social media platforms where gullible persons took turns to pour invectives on our client.
” By your latter Facebook post of 9th November 2024, you sustained your incontinence against our client and even scoffed at the suggestion of legal action against you.
“It is the brief of our client that the said publication is in all material particular false, unsubstantiated, concocted, malicious, mischievous, wicked, offensive, in bad taste and made in utmost bad faith to bring him to public ridicule, hatred and opprobrium,” he stressed.
He asserted that, contrary to Mkor’s claims, the previous administration led by Ortom did not allocate any funds from Benue for the proposed Cargo Airport at Daudu or the Igumale Cement Factory, nor did it make any payments related to any Memorandum of Understanding.
He further clarified that Ortom does not possess any water factory along the banks of the River Benue and has never been involved in any legal proceedings, either within the state or outside its jurisdiction, concerning tax evasion.
Additionally, he emphasized that Ortom never utilized imported industrial machinery intended for Benue State for personal purposes, as alleged by Mkor.
As a result, the demand notice requires Mkor to issue a letter of retraction and apology to the former governor regarding his false, defamatory, and libellous statements.
Furthermore, it stipulates that the Special Adviser to the Governor must ensure the retraction/apology is published in at least five national newspapers that circulate in Benue State, along with paid advertisements to the same effect during prime time slots on Arise News, Channels Television, AIT, TVC News, Nigerian Television Authority, Radio Benue, and Harvest FM Makurdi.
Mkor must also provide a written commitment not to engage in any similar false publications against Chief Ortom in the future.
Lastly, he must compensate the former governor with N1 billion as exemplary, aggravated, and general damages.