Judge Peter J. Messitte, a United States District Judge, has dismissed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed in 2009 by Nigerian-born controversial attorney, Emeka Ugwuonye, against Sowore Omoyele, the founder of saharareporters.com.
Sowore was represented by notable free speech attorneys, Laurie Babinski and Bruce Brown at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Washington DC. The two lawyers are part of the pro-bono network of the UK-based Media Legal Defence Initiative. Mr. Ugwuonye represented himself.
In a ruling dated November 20 but officially released this morning, Judge Messitte declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s claims in his lawsuit lacked merit.
The judge consequently granted Mr. Sowore’s motion for a summary dismissal of the lawsuit.
Mr. Ugwuonye filed the lawsuit following a series of investigative reports by SaharaReporters to the effect that he had improperly withheld $1.5 million in IRS tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC. The funds in questions were tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy from transactions in which the embassy sold off some of its real estate holdings. Since Mr. Ugwuonye had represented the Nigerian embassy in the transactions, the refunds were given to him for transfer to his clients.
Instead, Mr. Ugwuonye kept the money, claiming that the Nigerian government owed him for legal work he did for other government functionaries.
Nigeria’s former attorney general Michael Aondoakaa has since denied that the government owed any outstanding fees to Mr. Ugwuonye.
Mr. Ugwuonye’s original lawsuit named several defendants, including former Nigerian ambassador to the US, Oluwole Rotimi and Professor Mobolaji Aluko.
However, Judge Messite penalized Ugwuonye for suing Aluko in the US District court instead of a state court and then dismissed the case against Professor Aluko. The judge also dropped the case against the former ambassador because he could not be served the summons. The court then focused on Ugwuonye’s case against SaharaReporters.
In a 15-page memorandum accompanying his ruling, Judge Messitte extensively quoted various legal principles to support the dismissal of Mr. Ugwuonye’s lawsuit. The judge stated that summary judgment “is warranted when a party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the elements essential to the party’s claim and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.”
Judge Messitte also declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s failure to respond in a timely manner to queries administered on him by the defendant amounted to admission that “each statement he alleged to be defamatory was in fact substantially true and made without malice.”
Declaring Mr. Ugwuonye a “public figure,” Judge Messitte declared that it was impossible to conclude that any of the statements made by SaharaReporters about the plaintiff were “made with actual malice.”
After reviewing several of the statements that Mr. Ugwuonye alleged to be defamatory, the judge asserted that, on the contrary, the plaintiff’s submissions did not impeach the facts in the statement at issue.
Mr. Ugwuonye has up to thirty days to appeal the ruling.
Judge Peter J. Messitte, a United States District Judge, has dismissed a defamation and invasion of privacy lawsuit filed in 2009 by Nigerian-born controversial attorney, Emeka Ugwuonye, against Sowore Omoyele, the founder of saharareporters.com.
Sowore was represented by notable free speech attorneys, Laurie Babinski and Bruce Brown at the law firm of Baker Hostetler in Washington DC. The two lawyers are part of the pro-bono network of the UK-based Media Legal Defence Initiative. Mr. Ugwuonye represented himself.
In a ruling dated November 20 but officially released this morning, Judge Messitte declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s claims in his lawsuit lacked merit.
The judge consequently granted Mr. Sowore’s motion for a summary dismissal of the lawsuit.
Mr. Ugwuonye filed the lawsuit following a series of investigative reports by SaharaReporters to the effect that he had improperly withheld $1.5 million in IRS tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy in Washington DC. The funds in questions were tax refunds to the Nigerian embassy from transactions in which the embassy sold off some of its real estate holdings. Since Mr. Ugwuonye had represented the Nigerian embassy in the transactions, the refunds were given to him for transfer to his clients.
Instead, Mr. Ugwuonye kept the money, claiming that the Nigerian government owed him for legal work he did for other government functionaries.
Nigeria’s former attorney general Michael Aondoakaa has since denied that the government owed any outstanding fees to Mr. Ugwuonye.
Mr. Ugwuonye’s original lawsuit named several defendants, including former Nigerian ambassador to the US, Oluwole Rotimi and Professor Mobolaji Aluko.
However, Judge Messite penalized Ugwuonye for suing Aluko in the US District court instead of a state court and then dismissed the case against Professor Aluko. The judge also dropped the case against the former ambassador because he could not be served the summons. The court then focused on Ugwuonye’s case against SaharaReporters.
In a 15-page memorandum accompanying his ruling, Judge Messitte extensively quoted various legal principles to support the dismissal of Mr. Ugwuonye’s lawsuit. The judge stated that summary judgment “is warranted when a party fails to make a showing sufficient to establish the elements essential to the party’s claim and on which the party will bear the burden of proof at trial.”
Judge Messitte also declared that Mr. Ugwuonye’s failure to respond in a timely manner to queries administered on him by the defendant amounted to admission that “each statement he alleged to be defamatory was in fact substantially true and made without malice.”
Declaring Mr. Ugwuonye a “public figure,” Judge Messitte declared that it was impossible to conclude that any of the statements made by SaharaReporters about the plaintiff were “made with actual malice.”
After reviewing several of the statements that Mr. Ugwuonye alleged to be defamatory, the judge asserted that, on the contrary, the plaintiff’s submissions did not impeach the facts in the statement at issue.
Mr. Ugwuonye has up to thirty days to appeal the ruling.