{"id":130412,"date":"2026-11-03T06:44:03","date_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:44:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=130412"},"modified":"2026-11-03T06:44:03","modified_gmt":"2026-11-03T05:44:03","slug":"us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/","title":{"rendered":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>By Lizzy Chirkpi<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has announced that former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande has been formally served with court documents in a federal defamation lawsuit filed against him.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The firm disclosed this in a statement on Monday, identifying Akande, also known as Pastor Olaolu Akande, as the operator of Empowered Newswire.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to the firm, its process server successfully delivered a federal court summons and complaint to Akande, alongside ongoing legal proceedings involving another defendant, Ademola Bello.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It said the service of the documents had given both defendants the opportunity to engage legal representatives and respond to the allegations before the court.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe have been informed that @akandeoj (also known as Pastor Olaolu Akande), who does business as Empowered Newswire, has finally been served with a federal court summons and complaint by our process server.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe clock is now ticking for Mr Ademola Bello and Pastor Akande to respond to the allegations of defamation against them in federal court. Both defendants now have an opportunity to retain legal counsel and defend their statements,\u201d the firm stated.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In a separate post on its X account, Von Batten-Montague-York warned that either defendant could face further legal consequences if they failed to respond within the timeframe stipulated by federal law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The firm said it intended to seek an entry of default and, where legally justified, a default judgment against any defendant who failed to respond.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cShould either defendant fail to respond within the time prescribed by federal law, we intend to seek entry of default and, where appropriate, a default judgment against them,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It further said it would pursue all available legal remedies to enforce any monetary judgment eventually awarded by the court.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Such measures, according to the firm, could include asset seizure and wage garnishment to recover damages.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIf a monetary judgment is entered, we intend to pursue all lawful enforcement remedies, including asset seizure, wage garnishment, and other appropriate collection measures, to ensure that Dr. Von Batten is made whole,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The allegations, however, remain subject to determination by the court, with both defendants entitled to present their defence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Akande is a journalist, author and former Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He served as part of Buhari\u2019s media team during the administration\u2019s two terms in office, from 2015 to 2023.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Before his appointment, Akande worked as a journalist covering Nigerian politics and governance. He was also a United States-based correspondent for several Nigerian media organisations and worked with the Voice of America (VOA), reporting on Nigerian and African affairs.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lizzy Chirkpi A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has announced that former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande has been formally served with court documents in a&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":130413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Lizzy Chirkpi A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has announced that former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande has been formally served with court documents in a&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pointblank News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"940\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Our Reporter\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"headline\":\"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":448,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/\",\"name\":\"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg\",\"width\":940,\"height\":600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/news\\\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pointblank News\",\"description\":\"Just the news\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c\",\"name\":\"Our Reporter\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Our Reporter\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pointblanknews.com\\\/pbn\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News","og_description":"By Lizzy Chirkpi A United States-based political advisory and lobbying firm, Von Batten-Montague-York, has announced that former presidential spokesman Laolu Akande has been formally served with court documents in a&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/","og_site_name":"Pointblank News","article_published_time":"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":940,"height":600,"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Our Reporter","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Our Reporter","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/"},"author":{"name":"Our Reporter","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"headline":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims","datePublished":"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/"},"wordCount":448,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/","name":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims - Pointblank News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg","datePublished":"2026-11-03T05:44:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Laolu-Akande-940x600-1.jpg","width":940,"height":600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/us-firm-serves-ex-presidential-aide-akande-with-court-papers-over-defamation-claims\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Firm Serves Ex-Presidential Aide Akande With Court Papers Over Defamation Claims"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/","name":"Pointblank News","description":"Just the news","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/#\/schema\/person\/ba61acbe7e8967bcf3f3ba603d9db23c","name":"Our Reporter","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dfbc6922319d1ca6499ccbaecd15b7813560f6d16c363b2fde6df73c8f82e64?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Our Reporter"},"url":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130414,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130412\/revisions\/130414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130413"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}