The Publisher/ Editor-in-chief of pointblanknews.com, Mr Jackson Ude has said that an orchestrated media report to the effect that Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Marlin Sylva won a defamatory case instituted against him is false, criminal, defamatory and malicious.
The Journalist said the Minister made two requests for an out of court settlement and engaged leaders in Nigeria to prevail on him to end the legal tussle.
Ude wondered how a case would be won when trial did not hold neither a judgement delivered.
Recall that the Mr Timipre Sylva had in 2021, instituted a defamation case against Mr Jackson Ude in a US Court while the case effectively started in February of 2022.
Ude stressed that the minister will have to return to a US Court for going against the agreement reached for an out-of-court settlement in the defamation case.
Pointblanknews com reports that the media was recently awashed with stories that the petroleum Minister had won the case against Pointblank News publisher.
However, in a statement released to the media, Mr Ude described the move as an “amateur attempt to hoodwink the public and spread lies”, insisting that the Minister had twice reached out to him for an out of court settlement deal which he rebuffed initial until he was reached out to by some Nigerian leaders.
In the release titled “Sylva Pleaded, Requested Settlement Twice, Did Not Win Any Defamatory Case in U.S” Ude catalogued what transpired leading up to the out-of-court settlement.
“My attention has been drawn to spurious, criminal, malicious, defamatory and disparaging news report being sponsored by the Minister of State, Petroleum, Timipre Marlin Sylvia, in which he claimed victory in a United States Eastern District Court, Pennsylvania.
“Nothing can be more ridiculous than such a claim when indeed the Minister was the one who instituted a defamatory case against me, turned around to twice request for an out-of-court settlement through his attorney, used leaders in Nigeria to reach out to me to accept an out of court settlement.
“In 2021, Sylva came to the U.S court and filed a lawsuit against me for defamation. The case started in February 2022. After discoveries were conducted by attorneys for both Sylva and me. Sylva appeared for deposition via zoom and was interrogated for closed to five hours in May. I was also deposed for about three hours. After the deposition, Sylva through his lawyers approached my lawyers for an out-of-court settlement.
“The first request was denied. He came back again on July 22, 2022 and made another request. This time, Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, whom I have tremendous respect for, has been reaching out to me on behalf of Sylva, requesting I accept to settle the matter out of court.
“After going through Sylva’s requests and adjustments made by my lawyers, I accepted the request in good faith and directed my attorneys to proceed with it. Judge Hon. Joseph Leeson Jnr of the Eastern District court, thereafter, set up settlement conference hearing for August 11, 2022. And also set September 14 as the Jury trial date if we did not reach an agreement to settle. I attended the hearing as ordered by the Judge while Sylva pleaded with the Judge to allow him to appear via zoom.
“At the Settlement hearing, we both went through the agreements. The Magistrate Judge, Hon. Pamela Carlos, supervised the process and both parties agreed and signed off the settlement agreement. No judgment was pronounced. Sylva was not pronounced winner as no trial in the case ever happened.
“In plain language, the suit did not proceed to trial or judgement stage. It was simply a settlement out of court which Sylva, not me, sought.
“It is, therefore, a violation of the Judge’s order for Sylva to sponsor defamatory, malicious and disparaging publications against my person and that of Pointblanknews.com in other to whitewash himself. In due course, he would return to the U.S court to explain his actions.
“The amateur attempt to hoodwink the public and spread lies are some of the instrument politicians have employed to deceive Nigerians. Again, Timipre Sylva never won any defamatory case. How can you be a winner in a case that never went to trial? Otherwise, Sylva should show to the public a judgement he obtained from the U.S Court declaring him winner. It is pure lies from the pit of hell!” The statement said.
