A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Paul Erokoro has accused another
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Joe Agi of feeding the media with distorted
facts about his case against Cross River State Governor, Senator Ben
Ayade.
Erokoro, who is Ayade’s lawyer in the suit also urged the media to
be mindful of how they report the matter since it is still before the
court.
He accused Agi of subjecting the governor to a media trial, and in the
process, distorting the facts of the case.
According to the learned silk, “any suggestions that Prof Ben Ayade forged
his Age Declaration is ridiculous. The Governor’s Age Declaration, which
he submitted to both his party and INEC, carries his correct date of
birth, 2nd March, 1968.
“His Driver’s Licence, Voters Card, current and old International
Passports, all carry that Date of Birth. His records in all the schools he
ever attended, including the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Law
School, all carry that same date of birth.”Giving further details about
the case, Erokoro claimed that “Mr Joseph Agi SAN is not in court about a
forged age declaration. He is trying to capitalize on a simple error made
by the Governor’s Special Assistant on his nomination form, by writing
1969 instead of 1968. Neither date makes a difference to Prof Ayade’s
qualification for the office of Governor.”
He said “both PDP and INEC saw it as a trivial error, especially as his
Age Declaration attached to the form showed his correct age. Mr Agi is
however bent on feeding distorted facts to a section of the media in order
to scandalize the Governor.”
He therefore, appealed to the media to get their information from the
correct source, “in this case the records of the court. Because the matter
is sub
justice, media practitioners should also beware of what they publish.”