The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has given two men seven days to retract the allegation that the ‘Change Begins With Me’ concept was not his, and apologise or be sued for libel.
Shortly after President Muhammadu Buhari had, September 8, 2016, flagged off the new media-based campaign aimed at changing the attitude of Nigerians towards national life, two men -Akin Fadeyi and Omo Bazuaye, who run a communications firm known as Bufferzone International Limited, Lagos, claimed ownership of the concept and accused Mohammed of adopting the idea from the rejected proposals they had earlier presented to him.
Mohammed has denied the claim, saying that he had already concluded the campaign concept with his team before being inaugurated as a minister and would therefore not understand how he could have stolen anybody’s idea.
Consequently, he asked the law firm of Falana and Falana Chambers to write the two men demanding a retraction and apologise within seven days.
In the notice issued on September 19, 2016 by the law firm and signed by Oludare Falana Esq, Mohammed said: “Having damaged our client’s hard earned reputation by your reckless action, we have his instructions to demand a retraction of your libellous publication within seven days of the receipt of this letter.
“Take notice that if you fail or refuse to accede to our client’s demands, we have his instructions to sue you with a view to restoring his reputation which your reckless publication has damaged.”