N500bn Defamation: Court Adjourns Seplat Suit against Media House to April 26

Amby Uneze in Owerri

A High Court sitting in Owerri, the capital of Imo State presided over by Justice U.U. Nnodum has adjourned a defamation case between Seplat Energy Plc and Per Seconds News Limited and seven others to April 26, 2023, for parties to file preliminary objection and to argue the merits and demerits of the case.

When the case was mentioned for the first time on Friday, the counsel to the 2nd to 7th defendants, Oladimeji Adebayo told the court that he had filed preliminary objection to the case, noting that none of the parties reside in Owerri and the case alleged defamation was not committed in Owerri.

He contended that the Plaintiff sued a non-existence party as there was no company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with the name: Per Seconds News Limited which was contained in his preliminary objection as he urged the court to dismiss the case for lack of merit.

He told journalists that Seplat Energy Plc filed a writ of summons on allegation over defamation on the acquisition of ExxonMobil Plc.

“We have filed notice of preliminary objection because this court is in Owerri and Seplat and our clients are based in Abuja, none of the matters took place here in Owerri. We also told the court that the name of the 1st defendant, Per Second News Ltd is not the name of our client.

“You will observe I announced the appearance for 2nd to 7th defendants. Our client does not bear Per Second News. They sued the wrong person. Our client is Per Second Communications Nigeria Ltd, which is different from Per Second News Ltd.

“We have checked in the CAC, Per Second News Ltd is not existing in CAC records. They sued the company that does not exist, that is why we filed notice of preliminary objection and I have also filed our defence because this matter bothered public interest. What our clients did was in public interest.

“We are requesting the court to strike out the case or dismiss it for lack of merit. Seplat is claiming about N500 billion. Seplat is also suing another journal: Street Journal on the same thing,” he stated.

The judge therefore adjourned the case to April 26, 2023 for the parties to file relevant briefs to advance the case.