The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has claimed that some individuals are conspiring to drag his name through the mud. He stated this while reacting to the controversy generated by an audio clip where he allegedly accused Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho, of being responsible for the death of Bola Ige....CONTINUE READING
However, Adams insisted that the audio clip was converted distorted, and disjointed, adding that he is ready to set the records straight on the various allegations.
Recall that Igboho and Chief of Staff to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Tayo Ayinde, had both threatened to drag the Aare to court for accusing them of plotting an assassination.
Igboho and Ayinde, in separate pre-action letters by their lawyers, demanded that Adams should retract the said assassination claim against them or they would drag him to court.
However, in a statement on Tuesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, Adams described the voice note as distorted.
He also described the threat of lawsuits by Igboho and Ayinde as “a grand conspiracy” to discredit his person, maintaining that he is ready to go the extra length to protect his reputation.
In the statement titled ‘Don’t take my silence for cowardice, Gani Adams speaks on alleged defamation of character,’ he said his reaction became pertinent as it had become evident “that Igboho and Ayinde were not ready to toe the line of peace as initiated by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.”
Adams, therefore, in a rejoinder written by his lawyers, Oluwole Kehinde and Rosemary Thompson, dated Monday but obtained by Naija News on Tuesday, denied the content and inferences drawn by Ayinde’s lawyer in the audio clip.
The letter reads in part, “Firstly, our client denies the content and inferences drawn by you in your letter under reference regarding the alleged audio clip you attributed to our client. As stated in your letter, the content of the alleged video clip, which is a concocted, distorted, and disjointed part of a private conversation between our client and another person in 2021, was published and widely circulated by one Chief Sunday Adeyemo (Alias ‘Sunday Ighoho’) and not our client.
“Furthermore, it is obvious from the alleged defamatory remarks that our client mentioned that it was a ‘rumoured and unconfirmed information that he found difficult to believe’ and could not be shared publicly. Thus, there is no element of malice on the part of our client pertaining to the alleged statement attributed to him in the said video clip.”
Adams was further quoted in the statement by his media aide as saying “The reason for my silence in the midst of the various legal and media infractions by Igboho and Ayinde, was not because I am a coward, but because of the initial interventions of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, other prominent Obas and several other important personalities in Yorubaland.
“But with the ongoing lies and aspersions against my person, I think it is time for me to come out open and set the record straight.
“Though my legal team has done what was required of them, I need to state clearly that the audio clip generating the squabbles was a distorted and disjointed content of a private conversation which held way back in 2021 with a US-based younger brother of a friend.
“The conversation was initiated by the young man who claimed he wanted a reconciliation between myself, Igboho and some other people.
“It was while responding on reasons for reconciliation at the time that he mentioned the names of the two people.”
Adams noted that in the circulating audio, he said repeatedly that though it was very difficult to believe, there was an unconfirmed rumour allegedly linking Igboho to the murder of the late Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.
“My statement was not done in bad faith and it was purely a private conversation,”he added.
He stressed “However, on the issue of my brother, Tayo Ayinde, let me make it clear here that I repeatedly said that whatever was said was a rumour that couldn’t be substantiated or made public.”
