The Chief of Staff to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, may have resolved to drop the threat to sue the Are Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Adams, over alleged defamatory statement against him in an audio clip.
FrontPage reports that the indication is contained in a letter by Ayinde’s lawyer to Gani Adams over the matter.
Recall that on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, Ayinde’s lawyer, Mr. Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, served a notice to Gani Adams, to retract what he described as “heavy and damaging allegations” against his client.
According to Ayinde’s lawyer, refusal to retract the claim might lead to a legal action against him.
The allegation in the audio clip which has since gone viral, borders on a supposed plot by the Chief of Staff and popular human rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, to eliminate the Are Onakakanfo.
Ayinde said he had received several calls from within and outside the country, as well as personal visits following references to him in a press statement, titled “I did not take part in killing Chief Bola lge”, by Sunday Adeyemo, denouncing the accusation of the Are Onakakanfo.
In response to the notice for retraction, Oluwole Kehinde debunked the claim against his client, Are Onakakanfo.
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In the letter dated Monday, March 25 and addressed to Ayinde’s lawyer, Olumide-Fusika, Kehinde said the allegation against his client was untrue.
In the letter, seen by our correspondent, the Are Onakakanfo’s lawyer stated: “In the circumstance, our client denies any responsibility for the publication of any alleged defamatory remarks complained of by your client, and thus not liable for the said defamatory remarks of and concerning our client.
“We therefore urge you to advise your client to withdraw any perceived claim against our client accordingly.”
In his reply to the request, Ayinde’s lawyer said his client would allow the matter to rest based on the position of the Are Onakakanfo that he was not responsible for the circulation of the audio clip said to be containing the alleged defamatory statement; that the content was a concocted, distorted and disjointed part of a private conversation he had with another person in 2021, and that he never meant, nor intended the defamatory imputation complained of against him by his utterances in the said audio clip.
The letter dated Wednesday, March 27, 2024 and signed by Olumide-Fusika reads in part: “In the circumstance, unless you dispute what has been summarized above as his understanding of what you were asked by your client to communicate to him, my client will allow the matter to rest.”
He stated further: “Kindly assure your client that my client appreciates the fact that the public office he holds and his conduct in it is liable to scrutiny and criticisms by any and every member of the public that feels ill-served by any act or commission or omission by him in that office. While he will not hold anyone in grudge in exercising that right, it is his reasonable expectation that anyone doing so, including your client, the Are Onakakanfo, abides by truth, fairness and the paramountcy of public interest.”
