EFCC: Omisore seeks N500m damages

For alleged defamation of character, offensive, malicious and false publication, former deputy governor of Osun State, Senator Iyiola Omisore, has demanded N500 million from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as damages.
If the commission refuses to pay the sum, the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State has threatened to sue EFCC and its spokesman for “aggravated damages, which shall certainly not be limited to N500 million”.
In a letter to the anti-graft commission by his lawyer, Chief Chris Uche, Omisore described as untrue that he refused to make himself available to the EFCC as alleged.
He also demanded an immediate retraction of the publication, which declared him (Omisore) wanted in connection with an alleged case of “receiving and misappropriating the sum of over N700 million between June and November 2014, from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).”
According to the letter, Omisore had approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, through Suit No FCT/HC/1456/2016, to seek its protection, having perceived that the EFCC’s invitation was “a deliberate ploy to unlawfully arrest and detain him.”
According to the letter, Omisore had been granted an interim order, which restrained the commission and its agents, officers and privies from unlawfully arresting, detaining or interferring with the fundamental rights of the former deputy governor without the due process of law, an order to which the letter maintained that EFCC filed a counter-affidavit and preliminary objection, noting that the order was an impediment to the discharge of its statutory duty.