RIGHT OF REPLY

• NBA IS STILL OWING ME FOR OFFICIAL DUTIES
• I CAN NEVER BE PARTY TO SHARING NBA FUNDS
• PAY ME N100 MILLION AS DAMAGES

The immediate past First Vice President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Linda Bala has said that she was not paid any money by the immediate past NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN.

Bala was responding to a CITY LAWYER news report that some National Officers received payments approved by the immediate past NBA President, Mr. Yakubu Maikyau SAN as logistical support or per diem allowance for attending the recent NBA Annual General Conference (AGC).

CITY LAWYER gathered that the per diem allowance which used to be N30,000 per day was upped to N50,000 per day for National Officers while NBA Staff receive N30,000 per diem allowance per day.

Three ranking National Officers confirmed receipt of the AGC payments. While one National Officer told CITY LAWYER of being paid N420,000 another said N480,000 was the amount received by the National Officer.

But in a letter titled “RE: EXCLUSIVE: MAIKYAU PAYS EX NATIONAL OFFICERS N.44M, BISHOP SHUT OUT DEFAMATION OF MY CHARACTER AND DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RETRACTION, APOLOGY, AND DAMAGES,” Bala stated that “A visit to your blog revealed that you published that I along with immediate past National Officers of the NBA received various sums of money from the immediate past NBA President during the swearing-in ceremony of the new NBA President.”

The Bar Leader vowed that “These claims and allegations in the said publications on your blog which have now been communicated to millions of people within and outside Nigeria are false, untrue, malicious, and highly defamatory of my person in every respect. It portrays me as a selfish, greedy, and corrupt individual.”

According to the senior lawyer, “To make it perfectly and emphatically clear, and with every sense of modesty, I was not paid any money by the immediate past President of the NBA, either at the swearing-in ceremony of the incumbent President of the NBA or at any other place. I am a legal practitioner of impeccable character and standing with over 30 years of post-call experience. I have a thriving practice and have never been involved in any case of corruption or corrupt enrichment either in my years of service to the NBA or as a legal practitioner. I sought to serve the Bar selflessly and as such can never be a party to the sharing of our common wealth. This is even as the NBA has yet to settle its outstanding financial obligations to me for official duties carried out.

“Your publications to the contrary are therefore maliciously aimed at smearing my image and reputation. The several calls and messages I have received and comments I read on the issue, have caused me anxiety, emotional and psychological stress, and trauma.

“Curiously and contrary to all ethics of professional journalism, and especially given that you are a lawyer who understands the maxim of audi alteram patem”, hear the other side, you published the said story on your blog and circulated the same on various social media without reaching out to me to verify the veracity of the story.

“Had you contacted me for my comments before you published your unfounded story as the ethics of professional journalism demands, I would have explained to you that your “sources” if they exist, are unreliable and the story false in its entirety. It is at best fictional or malicious and baseless, and you had no justification for publishing the said unfounded story which is defamatory of me on your blog and circulating the same.”

Bala demanded “That you publicly retract the defamatory story and remove same from your blog forthwith,” adding: “That you pay the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) only to me as damages for the emotional and psychological trauma, the loss of reputation and goodwill I have suffered as a result of your malicious and defamatory publication.”

The full text of the letter reads:

Dear Sir,

RE: EXCLUSIVE: MAIKYAU PAYS EX NATIONAL OFFICERS N.44M, BISHOP SHUT OUT DEFAMATION OF MY CHARACTER AND DEMAND FOR IMMEDIATE RETRACTION, APOLOGY, AND DAMAGES
The above subject matters refer.

On Friday, 6th September 2024, my attention was drawn to a false, malicious, and defamatory publication from your online platform/blog – CITY LAWYER captioned “EXCLUSIVE: MAIKYAU PAYS EX NATIONAL OFFICERS N.44M, BISHOP SHUT OUT”.

The said publication on your blog was published and circulated by you to several lawyers’ groups on different social media platforms including but not limited to WhatsApp, Facebook, and Telegram.

In the said publication, it was alleged amongst other things that the immediate past president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, OON SAN paid all former National Officers of the NBA (including myself, having just served as the 1st Vice President of the NBA under Mr. Maikyau) the sum of N.44 million. It was alleged that the immediate past National Officers received credit alerts for the alleged sum “during the swearing-in of Mr. Afam Osigwe, SAN as NBA President” which facts are untrue, false, unfounded, and defamatory of me.

The publication is malicious and a deliberate attempt at damaging and smearing my reputation as a legal practitioner of over 30 years post-call standing and ruining my stellar reputation of selfless service to the NBA over the last three (3) decades.

Since your publication was made and published/circulated on 6th September 2024, I have been inundated with calls from family members, relatives, colleagues, clients, and friends from within and outside Nigeria seeking my comments and clarifications on this disturbing publication they had read about me on your blog. Some persons even sent me messages containing their account numbers stating that “there is love in sharing” requesting that I share the “largesse” with them.

Following the several calls received from my family members, relatives, colleagues, clients, and friends, I visited your blog, https://citylawyermag.com/ to ascertain the disturbing publication my family and associates have referred to. A visit to your blog revealed that you published that I along with immediate past National Officers of the NBA received various sums of money from the immediate past NBA President during the swearing-in ceremony of the new NBA President.

These claims and allegations in the said publications on your blog which have now been communicated to millions of people within and outside Nigeria are false, untrue, malicious, and highly defamatory of my person in every respect. It portrays me as a selfish, greedy, and corrupt individual.

To make it perfectly and emphatically clear, and with every sense of modesty, I was not paid any money by the immediate past President of the NBA, either at the swearing-in ceremony of the incumbent President of the NBA or at any other place. I am a legal practitioner of impeccable character and standing with over 30 years of post-call experience. I have a thriving practice and have never been involved in any case of corruption or corrupt enrichment either in my years of service to the NBA or as a legal practitioner. I sought to serve the Bar selflessly and as such can never be a party to the sharing of our common wealth. This is even as the NBA has yet to settle its outstanding financial obligations to me for official duties carried out.

Your publications to the contrary are therefore maliciously aimed at smearing my image and reputation. The several calls and messages I have received and comments I read on the issue, have caused me anxiety, emotional and psychological stress, and trauma.

Curiously and contrary to all ethics of professional journalism, and especially given that you are a lawyer who understands the maxim of audi alteram patem”, hear the other side, you published the said story on your blog and circulated the same on various social media without reaching out to me to verify the veracity of the story.

Had you contacted me for my comments before you published your unfounded story as the ethics of professional journalism demands, I would have explained to you that your “sources” if they exist, are unreliable and the story false in its entirety. It is at best fictional or malicious and baseless, and you had no justification for publishing the said unfounded story which is defamatory of me on your blog and circulating the same.

I, therefore, believe that you only published the said defamatory story on your blog in a bid to completely damage my reputation in the estimation of the right-thinking members of society and perhaps gain traffic to your blog.

MY DEMAND
It is in the light of the foregoing that I hereby make the following demands:

1.
That you publicly retract the defamatory story and remove same from your blog forthwith.
2.
Within 3 days of your receipt of this letter, you issue a public apology to me for publishing the said defamatory story against me on your blog.
3.
The said public apology must be published on your blog and circulated on the various lawyers’ platforms on WhatsApp, Facebook, telegram, etc.
4.
That you pay the sum of N100,000,000.00 (One Hundred Million Naira) only to me as damages for the emotional and psychological trauma, the loss of reputation and goodwill I have suffered as a result of your malicious and defamatory publication.

TAKE NOTICE that should you fail to comply with my demands within 3 (three) days, I will explore all possible legal means available to me to seek redress and this shall be without further recourse to you. In the said suit, we shall be seeking amongst other reliefs aggravated and exemplary damages as well as the cost of litigation.

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