Senate President Godswill Akpabio has threatened to sue Lagos PDP chieftain, Dr. Adetokunbo Pearse, over what he described as false and defamatory remarks made against him during a live broadcast on Arise Television.
In a demand letter dated October 7, 2025, and signed by his lawyers, S. I. Ameh (SAN) & Co., Akpabio accused Pearse of making reckless and malicious statements aimed at damaging his reputation.
The Senate President has given Pearse three days to issue a public apology and retraction, failing which he would initiate legal proceedings for defamation and criminal incitement.
The letter, titled “Demand for Immediate Retraction and Public Apology for Defamatory Publication Against Senator Godswill Akpabio, GCON,” referenced Pearse’s remarks during an October 4 political segment on Arise TV, where he allegedly made unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, manipulation, and criminality against Akpabio.
During the broadcast, Pearse reportedly said:
“If we get more women in the National Assembly and we have a Senate President like Akpabio, what is the point?
The National Assembly we have now is a rubber-stamp assembly… Akpabio should not be President of the Senate. He’s a criminal; he shouldn’t be there. He has cases in the EFCC, millions that he stole when he was governor… There’s no way a man like that should be there in the first place.”
Akpabio’s legal team described the remarks as “false in every material particular,” adding that they were made “with total disregard for the truth and in bad faith.”
The letter further claimed that Pearse’s comments were intended to portray the Senate President as corrupt and dishonest, thereby exposing him to public ridicule and hatred.
According to Akpabio’s lawyers, the broadcast and its circulation on social media caused him grave reputational injury, emotional distress, and embarrassment, while also undermining public confidence in the leadership of the Senate.
“Our client finds these assertions deeply offensive, defamatory, and malicious. They portray him as a criminal, corrupt politician, misogynist, and manipulator of democratic institutions — all of which are entirely untrue,”
the letter concluded.
