A former House of Representatives member, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, yesterday, told a Lagos State High Court sitting in Igbosere, that she is not indebted to any bank.
Dabiri-Erewa, in the suit filed by her counsel, Mr Tokunbo Mumuni, said she was never involved in any scandalous activity, debt or inappropriate financial dealings.
Abike Dabiri
Similarly, she has petitioned the Inspector General of Police, to investigate how her name got into the bank’s list of debtors recently released by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
She is contending the suit in court that she never had anything to do with the said Thrillers Endeavours, where she was listed to be a director and had never subscribed to the Memorandum and Article of Association of the company.
She is praying the court to restrain the defendants and their privies from further publishing her name as a director of Thrillers Endeavours.
She is also praying the court to direct the defendants to tender a public apology to her in three national newspapers, adding that the apology must be given the same prominence as the first story.
She is also praying the court for a declaration that the defendants have defamed and injured her character by the said publication, while urging the court to award N500 million damages against the defendants jointly and severally.
The former lawmaker also wants the court to direct the defendants to pay, bear and be responsible for the sum of N3 million, she paid for the professional services of her lawyers in the matter.
She accused the bank of deliberately including her name as a director of Thrillers Endeavours, when it (bank) knew she has nothing to do with the company.
She stated that her lawyers wrote the bank and the newspaper on August 5, with specific demands but the demands were not complied with.
Dabiri-Erewa further alleged that as a politician, the publication of the story and her picture had damaged her reputation.
She is contending further that Nigerians, who were positively and favourably disposed to her have withdrawn and have been avoiding her like plague to her discomfort and embarrassment, adding that she had been subjected to public opprobrium and ridicule of monumental proportion.
Following the policy of naming and shaming bad debtors by the Nigerian Deposit Banks, NDB, had listed Dabiri-Erewa as one of the directors of Thriller Endeavours which has a non performing loan, NPL of N122.9 million.
But the former House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora chair, denied that she was indebted to the bank, describing the publication as embarrassing and malicious.
Dabiri-Erewa, who was accompanied to the court by her husband, Erewa and lawyer, Adetokunbo Mumuni , said that the publication has done a lot of damage to her reputation and that of her family.
She wondered how she was listed in the Bank as a director of Thrillers Endeavours, adding that she has never heard the name, Thrillers Endeavours until the publication.
I hope this matter would be thoroughly investigated and settled. It will be unjustifiable for any individual or organisation to damage the image and reputation of anybody, no less our well respected Dabiri-Erewa. I just hope it was a mistake…a costly one at that.