By ABDULKABIR MUHAMMED

A federal high court in Maitama, Abuja, has scheduled the hearing of a case filed by former World Boxing Champion, Bash Ali (OON) for 9: am on Thursday, July 3rd, 2025. This was revealed in a press release by the Communication & Publicity Director of Bash Ali Guinness World Records Boxing Project, Harry Agina, recently.

According to the press release, the claimant, Bash Ali, has filed a defamation suit, through his legal counsel, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, against Nigeria’s former Minister of Youth and Sports Development and current Special Adviser to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on pubic communications and orientation, Mr Sunday Dare, as well as the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development and the federal government of Nigeria.

In the lawsuit case registered under file number FCT/HC/CV/6411/2023 “The first defendant, Sunday Dare, is charged with extortion (and) defamation of character of the World Boxing Champion, Bash Ali…” which has resulted in loss of wages. As compensation, the plaintiff is asking for a whopping N500B in damages.

This hearing is considered a significant step towards resolving the allegations made against the federal government by the Boxing icon through series of open letters, that the federal government through the office of the Chief of Staff, received a $12 million in advance for his Guinness World Records Boxing Project.