THE Supreme court has dismissed an appeal filed by a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, seeking to set aside a N6 billion damages awarded against him for defaming the character of a former governor of Rivers State, Peter Odili.
The appeal was dismissed today in a judgment prepared by Justice Adamu Augie but delivered by Justice Adamu Jauro.
The court upheld the decision of the lower courts which imposed damages against Peterside to be paid to Odili as compensation for defamation of character.
Odili had in October 2016 dragged Peterside to court demanding N6bn as damages for character defamation.
In the suit, the former Rivers State governor had claimed that Peterside, at a press conference in Port Harcourt, defamed him in his allegation that Governor Nyesom Wike’s Supreme Court victory was hatched by him.
This allegation was made on the belief that Odili’s wife, Mary Odili, then a serving justice of the court, was used to influence the electoral judgment in favour of Wike.
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