Babajide Akeredolu, the son of former governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has threatened to institute legal process against the Immediate past Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian, Martins Oloja over recent comments made against him during the 11th Distinguished Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Ondo State.
In a letter written to Oloja and dated 12th March, 2025 by his Counsel, Kanu Stephen, Babajide Akeredolu however gave the veteran Journalist Seven Days ultimatum to retract and apologize for making such defamatory statements against him.
The letter reads; “We write to you as counsel of Mr. Babajide Akeredolu, whose attention has been drawn to an online publication gaining widespread circulation. This publication, which attributes statements to you during the 11th Distinguished Lecture of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Ondo State, contains misleading, defamatory, and injurious allegations against our client.
“In line with your statement you specifically reported below:
“As a stakeholder in this state, I confirmed before that once upon a time, an artful enterprising son to a governor of this state who was later hired as director-general in the state bureaucracy was collecting 6% on all students’ incidental fees as part of the state revenue collection mechanism. That was a disastrous policy and a revenue collection blight on higher education in this state. May that specter of darkness not fall on this state again!”
“These words, deliberately crafted with innuendo and negative connotations, falsely suggest that our client engaged in acts of corruption and financial mismanagement during his public service tenure.
“The suggestion that he personally benefited from a 6% tax on student fees is not only false but deeply misleading and damaging to his reputation, character, professional standing and goodwill.
“It is imperative to clarify that Mr. Babajide Akeredolu has never engaged in any form of financial impropriety or malfeasance of any kind during his term of office, neither he takes benefit of public funds by virtue of his office.
“He served the Ondo State Government with integrity and distinction, particularly as the Director-General of the Performance and Project Implementation Monitoring Unit under the administration of the late Governor Oluwarotimi O. Akeredolu, SAN.
“His contributions to the State both as an appointee and pro bono include:
- The conceptualization of the Ondo State Development and Investment Promotion Agency to attract investments.
- The creation of the Akure Tech Hub, a successful tripartite concept designed to foster digital innovation and entrepreneurship.
- Secretary of the Ondo State Covid-19 Fundraising Committee, the only one of such committees in the country to respond to the Freedom of Information Request to show how all funds were spent and their impact.
- Secretary of the Ondo State Transition Strategy and Implementation Committee which led to the creation of the States Delivery Unit that was the only recognized Delivery Unit in Nigeria by the African Delivery Units Network.
“Through these initiatives, our client significantly contributed to the development of Ondo State and saved the government billions of naira through improved efficiency and project monitoring. Your reckless and unfounded statements now threaten to undermine his hard-earned reputation.
“It is evident that your remarks were made without factual basis, and their circulation has subjected our client to public ridicule, unnecessary scrutiny, and reputational harm. By portraying him as someone who misused his position for personal enrichment, you have wrongfully injured his credibility in the eyes of reasonable members of society. This constitutes a clear case of defamation under the law.
“In light of the foregoing, we hereby demand the following:
- An immediate and unequivocal retraction of your defamatory statement.
- A public apology, published in the same online platform where the original statement appeared, as well as in two widely circulated newspapers.
- A clarification that your previous statement was either incorrect or misrepresented, ensuring that our client’s reputation is restored.
“Should you fail to comply within seven (7) days of receiving this letter, we have our client’s firm instruction to pursue all available legal remedies, including but not limited to instituting a defamation lawsuit against you.
“We trust that you will take this matter seriously and act accordingly to rectify the damage caused to our client’s hard-earned reputation and goodwill. We look forward to your prompt response.”
