[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he former Governor of Rivers State, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi is reported to have sued my Party, its Chairman and one other (still unknown), though court processes haven’t been served on any known living soul anywhere in Nigeria.
Amaechi is suing for defamation and claiming 300 billion naira in damages! What?
Okay. You heard it. N300 billion not N3 billion or N30 billion but a little over a quarter of N1 trillion naira. N300,000,000,000, three with eleven zeros behind it. Shege jaguar!
This is where it gets a little contradictory.
The man says he doesn’t like money. If that is the case, then he cannot be worth N300billion and cannot possibly suffer that much in damages, that’s if he suffered anything. But then again, if he claims damages worth N300billion and is not bankrupt, it implies he is worth more than that in actuality. If that is the case, how did he earn that much?
If however, he didn’t suffer that much in damages or nothing at all, does it mean he is broke?
There are questions needing answers. But one must ask this all important question: what about the allegations currently before the Judicial Panel of Enquiry in Rivers State, why are they not part of the suit since they are the very issues that have elicited public opprobrium against him rather than the reported claims in his suit.
Is he that rich to suffer 300 billion naira damages? So why does he claim not to like money? If 300 billion is not the kind of money that he likes, what could be the real worth of former Governor of Nigeria’s oil and gas hub and richest State in the Federation (as it then was under him)?
How did he earn that much and the State was left in complete abandonment?
Questions! Questions! Questions!
I’m not saying he cannot sue for whatever real or imaginary wrong, but, at his level and based on his rhetoric, suing for damages in money’s worth is counter productive.
Oraye St. Franklyn, a strategic communicator and good governance advocate, writes from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. He tweets from @RealOraye. He is also on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
