OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI 
Seun Kuti, the son of the Afrobeat late musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has reiterated his readiness to meet Chief Bolaji Ayorinde, (SAN), over the libel and defamation of character suit instituted against him over his comment on the Process & Industrial Developments (P&ID) Limited case. Ayorinde had debunked the claim by Kuti that as a principal partner in the P&ID case, representing Nigeria, he intentionally leaked documents to the company against the country.
Kuti in a recent press briefing in Lagos, denied ever committing any libel or defamation of character against Ayorinde. Rather, he said that he only read out the judgement of Justice Robin Knowles of the Commercial Courts of England and Wales, which ruled in favour of Nigeria in the enforcement of an $11 billion P&ID arbitration award in his social media handle. He expressed surprise that Ayorinde could sue him for defamation of character and libel when the 140 pages court judgement was already in the public domain. Kuti also wondered why Ayorinde could sue him in Oyo State when both parties involved in the case are residents of Lagos. He further emphasised that he received a police invitation on the matter, which he attended on Thursday.
The case, according to Kuti, is expected to come up for hearing in Oyo State on January 24. Kuti, however, expressed confidence in the judiciary, insisting that justice would prevail at the end of the day. He noted that Ayorinde attempted to silence him and other Nigerians on the case. Kuti further commended the Federal Government for appealing the earlier ruling, which awarded $11 billion in damages to P&ID, saying that the judgement was unprecedented. He said: “This is the first of its kind in the world. This case caused a serious arbitration system in the United Kingdom, but didn’t make much impact in Nigeria. No one is talking about it.
“Nigerians must know that we are all children of sacrifice and we need to speak out on behalf of our people. “What I did in the entire case is to read out the judgecourt. “I read the entire 140 pages of the judgement and whatever I said emanated from the judgment. “But, Ayorinde, who represented Nigeria in the case, has taken me to court for libel and defamation of character. He also reported me to the police. “The Nigeria Police is not an attack dog of anyone and I stand by the things I have said on the case. I am ready to meet him in court.” Ayorinde through his law firm had denied allegations made by Kuti that its principal partner leaked documents to the P&ID Company that sued Nigeria.
The lawyer had dismissed Kuti’s claims as false, misconceived and of no substance, maintaining that no corruption charges were ever brought against him by any court or tribunal in relation to the P&ID case.The firm had said it was weighing legal options, includactions against Kuti and his sponsors. Justice Knowles had in October 2023, ruled in favour of Nigeria in the enforcement of an $11 billion P&ID arbitration award. According to the judge, the award against Nigeria by the company was obtained by fraud.
