Fake news: APC threatens Joe Abah with lawsuit

The All Progressives Congress (APC), Osun state chapter has threatened to sue former director-general of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms, Joe Abah over claims he made about the attack on the convoy of the governor.

This is coming days after the lawyer had threatened to sue a Twitter user who accused him of spreading fake news that “incited carnage in Lagos” during the violent aftermath of the #EndSARS protests.

Recall that the convoy of Governor of Osun state, Gboyega Oyetola on October 17 was attacked by suspected hoodlums at the #EndSARS protest ground in Osogbo, the capital of Osun state.

One person reportedly dead, others sustained injuries while some cars in Oyetola’s convoy got damaged.

Reacting via his official Twitter page barely 24hours after the incident, Abah tweeted;

“Gosh. I’ve just read about the killings in Osogbo. So, why do governors say they have no powers over the police if they can allegedly order them to shoot at protesters and they can comply. May the souls of those that died rest in peace”.

Meanwhile, one of the comments on Abah’s post on the microblogging platform was said to have contradicted his claims.

“Dr. please do your independent research. I was at Olaiya junction when the hoodlums attacked the governor’s convoy. No one died at the scene. The reported death was due to one reckless bike accident and the second reportedly happened at Oke-Ayepe, very far to the protest ground,” the response read.

On Sunday, 14 days after his comment, the Osun APC took to Twitter to hit back at Abah, and gave him a 24-hour ultimatum to apologise for his claims against the governor, while threatening a lawsuit if he fails to comply.

“Good morning @DrJoeAbah, Your unfounded accusations against Osun State Governor, H.E @GboyegaOyetola,
led to incitement that could have gotten him killed,” the tweet, which included a screenshot of Abah’s post, read.

“You posted this to your 520k followers and didn’t bother to follow up that it was false when one of your followers corrected you.

“We are giving you 24 hours to apologize for your lies on the person of the governor or risk criminal/civil action against your person.

“As a serving government personality, we find it utterly irresponsible that you will share lies without doing as much as a minor verification.”