By Admin
Chairman of the Governing Council of Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara, Chief (Hon.) Andrew Oghene-Aga Orugbo, has given a 7-day ultimatum to the Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Udu Local Government Area, Mr. David Rheriobore, to render a public apology and pay N100,000,000 as damages for his (Orugbo) alleged defamatory exclusion from a stakeholder meeting held on Wednesday, 11th February, 2026 at the Udu Local Government Council Secretariat.
In a letter written by Ikimi Oghenejabor & Co on his behalf and addressed to Mr. David Rheriobore, APC Chairman, Udu LGA, stated that their client, Chief (Hon.) Oghene-Aga Andrew Orugbo is a distinguished legal practitioner and seasoned politician who has built, over several decades, an enviable reputation in his personal, professional, political, and social life.
According to the letter dated 13th February, 2026, “he is a duly registered member and a recognized leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ward Three, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.
“He has held several high-ranking governmental and party positions at the local, state, and national levels, where he served meritoriously and with distinction facts well known to you.
“We are instructed that you convened a Stakeholders’ Meeting of the All Progressives Congress, Udu Local Government Area, which was held on Wednesday, 11th February 2026 at the Udu Local Government Council Secretariat, for the critical purpose of selecting members of the Executive Committee of the Udu LGA Chapter of the Party.
“In a notice titled “Special Invitation to a Stakeholders Meeting”, published on social media and co-signed by you, approximately eighty (80) prominent stakeholders, including office holders, of the APC in Udu LGA were listed and invited to the said meeting. Shockingly, our Client’s name was deliberately omitted from the list.
“Your deliberate exclusion of our Client a known leader and stakeholder of the Party amounts to a calculated act intended to diminish, ridicule, and portray him as politically irrelevant within the APC structure in Udu LGA.
“The publication and circulation of the said notice have caused serious embarrassment, reputational injury, and emotional distress to our Client.
“He has since been inundated with inquiries from family members, political associates, party faithful, and members of the public questioning why he was excluded from a stakeholders’ forum of the Party in which he is a prominent figure.
“The natural and ordinary meaning conveyed by your action is that our Client is no longer regarded as a stakeholder or relevant figure within the APC in Udu LGA. This imputation is false, malicious, and defamatory.
“Your conduct has lowered our Client in the estimation of right-thinking members of society and exposed him to public ridicule and political disparagement.
“Our Client hereby demand a written public apology addressed to our Client and published in at least two widely read newspapers circulating in Delta State and on the same social media platforms where the said notice was published; and
“Payment of the sum of One Hundred Million Naira (N100,000,000.00) as damages for the injury caused to his reputation.
“These demands must be complied with within Seven (7) days from the date of receipt of this letter.
“Should you fail, refuse, or neglect to comply within the stipulated period, we have firm instructions to commence appropriate legal proceedings against you without further recourse to you, claiming aggravated and exemplary damages at your risk as to costs and consequences”, it added
When contacted, the Chairman of the APC in Udu Local Government Area, Mr. David Rheriobore, stated that there are many political leaders in the APC and they are usually invited to meetings on a turn-by-turn basis.
He added that he would not be willing to go to court with him, as the matter would be resolved amicably by the party’s leaders in no distant time.
