Mike Ozekhome replies EFCC, SSS over demand to retract story on NNPC boss

Mike Ozekhome replies EFCC, SSS over demand to retract story on NNPC boss

Senior Advocate of Nigeria and human rights lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, has formally responded on behalf of Peoples Gazette to letters from EFCC chairman Ola Olukoyede and SSS chief Adeola Ajayi, demanding a retraction of reports on the abduction and coercion to resign of Bayo Ojulari, NNPC’s boss.

Mr Ozekhome dismissed the retraction demands as baseless, insisting that The Gazette’s reports were accurate, balanced, and in line with global journalistic standards.

The Gazette published an exclusive report on August 2, 2025, detailing how the EFCC and the SSS, respectively under the leadership of Messrs Olukoyede and Ajayi, detained Mr Ojulari and compelled him to resign from office, at the behest of Olatimbo Ayinde, a British-Nigerian oil businesswoman who has recently emerged as one of the most powerful forces steering the President Bola Tinubu administration.

A follow-up story reported that First Lady Remi Tinubu later intervened to stall the resignation plot.

Following the reports, Messrs Olukoyede and Ajayi separately wrote The Gazette, accusing the newspaper of defamation and threatening legal action under the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, unless the stories were retracted and an apology tendered within 48 hours.

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But Mr Ozekhome, in both replies dated August 29, 2025, said the threats were unwarranted. He stressed that the newspaper had made diligent efforts to contact EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale, Mr Ajayi, and presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga before going to press, but received no substantive response.

“Our client carefully balanced its constitutional duty to inform the public with the right of fair hearing and rebuttal, opportunities that were fully accorded your clients but regrettably ignored,” the senior advocate wrote.

Mr Ozekhome further argued that the publications were not defamatory and did not impute the allegations ascribed to them by the security agencies. Instead, he noted, the stories were published in good faith and backed by credible sources.

Quoting the Nigerian Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Mr Ozekhome stated that the reports were constitutionally protected exercises of press freedom.

The senior advocate added that The Gazette owed Nigerians a duty, under Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution, to hold the government accountable, stressing that the attempt to silence the press is inconsistent with democratic values.

Mike Ozekhome replies EFCC, SSS over demand to retract story on NNPC boss

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