Jarrett Tenebe, the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, has firmly denied defaming Asue Ighodalo, the 2024 governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Tenebe’s statement came after he was accused of making defamatory remarks about Ighodalo in a viral video posted on December 10th.

In the video, Tenebe accused Ighodalo of corruption and misusing state funds, linking the comments to a mistake made by Governor Monday Okpebholo during the presentation of Edo’s N605 billion budget to the state’s House of Assembly. Tenebe suggested that Ighodalo and former Governor Godwin Obaseki, who had served before Okpebholo, would not have made such an error because they had allegedly stolen billions of naira.

In response, Ighodalo’s legal team demanded that Tenebe retract his statement and issue a public apology within seven days, warning of further legal action if their request was not met.

However, Tenebe has refused to apologize or retract his statements. Through his lawyer, Blessing Agbomhere, he maintained that his comments were justified and that there was no reason for an apology.

This ongoing legal dispute highlights the tension between the APC and PDP in Edo State as both sides hold their ground.

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Agbomhere said, “We further want to state unequivocally that our client did not defame your client in any way, and as such, there is no need for a public apology or retraction of comments made in the alleged video.

“But if your client decides to stretch this issue further by going to court, we will rely on the defence of justification in accordance with the report of the Edo State Vehicle Recovery Committee, whose report indicted your client and the preliminary report of the Edo State Asset Verification Committee.”