Edo South senatorial aspirants of the All Progressives Congress and a chieftain of the party, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, on Thursday denied cloning the front page of Tuesday’s edition of Vanguard Newspaper, which carried a report indicating that he had won the senatorial ticket based on the intervention of the National Working Committee of the party.
He also threatened legal action against one Collins Osaghae, the Special Adviser on Digital Media to Governor Monday Okpebholo, whom he accused of circulating the alleged cloned newspaper alongside statements he described as defamatory.
Speaking to journalists at his residence in Benin City, Ize-Iyamu said those behind the development were attempting to damage his reputation by spreading falsehood.
He said, “These people are desperate, and they want to soil my name and reputation. You imagine the mischief they wanted to do; they even went as far as saying that I want to contest for the 2027 presidential election.
“Even the cloning of the Vanguard Newspaper is to embarrass me. They are the ones who are suffering embarrassment now because of their role in all this.
“I have asked my lawyers to institute legal proceedings against the person who shared the cloned newspaper. I have always allowed this, but I have to take this option to clear my name.”
Ize-Iyamu said that as a party man, he had directed his supporters to vote for President Bola Tinubu during the primary election, which he said the president won convincingly, adding that “yet the mischief makers wrote that I want to be president.”
In a letter from Faithful Stewards Solicitors addressed to Osaghae, Ize-Iyamu described the allegation that their client cloned the front page of Vanguard Newspaper as false, while also demanding proof that he forged the headlines, authorised, or participated in the circulation of the publication as alleged.
He stated that if such claims were not proven within 48 hours, a letter of apology and retraction should be published on seven television stations, seven national newspapers, and across several online platforms.
He also demanded N2bn in damages as reparation.
The law firm described Ize-Iyamu as “a responsible family head and a decent Nigerian citizen. He is a legal practitioner and one-time Chief of Staff, Secretary to Edo State Government, a politician and ordained Minister of God, a businessman and a farmer.”
The solicitors said they were shocked by the online statement, which they described as libellous, adding that the words used were intended to “malign, denigrate and injure the hard-earned reputation of our client as it relates to his political ambition for the seat of the Edo South Senatorial District in the circumstances.”
Recall that Ize-Iyamu contested the Edo South senatorial district seat and is disputing the result announced by the party’s primary election committee, where he came third behind Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama, who was
declared the winner, and Neda Imasuen, who finished second.
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