The Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, Mrs Omowunmi Isaac, and her brother, Kunle Odide, have instituted a libel suit against 35 elders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), alleging that a publication they authored and caused to be published was defamatory and damaged their reputation.

The case came up before the Ondo State High Court sitting in Akure on Tuesday. One of the defendants, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Adekola Olawoye, told journalists that the defendants were open to an out-of-court settlement.

Olawoye, however, said they had prepared to challenge the court’s jurisdiction and the competence of the suit through a preliminary objection before the claimants filed an application to amend defects in their court processes.

The Senior Advocate, who represented himself and about seven other defendants, said the claimants had applied to amend defects in their court processes, an application the defence did not oppose.

He added that the court awarded costs of N100,000 against the claimants in favour of each of the 35 defendants, bringing the total to N3.5 million, before adjourning the matter until October 8, 2026.

Explaining the basis of the suit, Olawoye said the controversy arose from a letter he wrote to the National Chairman of the APC, insisting that it was privately couriered and not published to any third party.

He said the letter was intended only to draw the attention of the party’s national leadership to what he described as developments within the APC in their local government.

The SAN further disclosed that the claimants had earlier petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over the matter, leading to the invitation of the defendants to Abuja on March 24, 2026.

However, he said they were neither detained nor prosecuted after being questioned, adding that efforts had been made to resolve the dispute amicably through party leaders, but the moves had yet to yield any positive result.

He appealed to APC members to close ranks ahead of the 2027 general elections, stressing that internal disagreements should not distract the party from its political objectives.

However, counsel to the claimants, Olaoluwa Imoru, argued that the suit arose from an allegedly libellous publication authored, signed and caused to be published by the 35th defendant in the Nigerian Tribune edition of February 2, 2026.

Imoru said the claimants were asking the court to declare the publication defamatory, disparaging and injurious to their reputation.

They are also seeking aggravated, special and general damages, as well as a retraction and public apology.

He argued that one of the defamatory expressions was the reference to the finance commissioner as Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa’s “mummy”, saying the description falsely conveyed the impression that she wielded undue influence over the governor.

According to him, the commissioner is merely an appointee who is answerable to the governor and does not exercise authority over him.

Justice Yemi Fasanmi subsequently adjourned the case until October 8, 2026, for further proceedings. (Nigerian Tribune)