The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has warned against what he termed as deliberate efforts by some individuals to drag his name in the mud, saying his silence should not be taken for cowardice.<\/p>\n
Adams, while speaking on the controversy generated by an audio clip, said he was ready to set the records straight on the various questions hanging in the balance on the alleged defamation contained in the clips, which he said was \u201cconcocted, distorted, and disjointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
NewMailNG<\/em>\u00a0had reported Tuesday that Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, alias Sunday Igboho; and the Chief of Staff to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, Mr Tayo Ayinde, had both threatened to drag the Aare Ona Kakanfo, Iba Gani Adams, to court for allegedly accusing them of plotting an assassination.<\/p>\n Igboho and Ayinde, in separate pre-action letters by their lawyers, demanded that Adams retract the said assassination claim against them or they would drag him to court.<\/p>\n In a March 20, 2024, pre-action letter, Ayinde, through his lawyer, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), complained about a viral note, in which Adams was allegedly heard saying in Yoruba language: \u201cSo, be careful associating with Igboho. Just last night, he was with Tayo Ayinde, the Lagos State Governor\u2019s Chief of Staff. He was heavily paid. You know that I have an extensive intelligence network as Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland. Until about 2:45 am, he was with Tayo Ayinde, the Lagos State Governor\u2019s Chief of Staff, who Tinubu also uses in Lagos to coordinate the execution of his evil machinations. He has been doing work of that nature for Tinubu since his days in the SSS.<\/p>\n \u201cHe resigned from the SSS, Ibadan to concentrate fully on such work for Tinubu, who compensated him with the office of Chief of Staff to the Lagos State Governor. It was at his hotel somewhere in Ikeja, Lagos, that Igboho visited him to collect money for logistics to confront me. Igboho left lbadan at about midnight to attend this meeting which ended at about 2:45am.<\/p>\n \u201cTayo Ayinde gave N45m in cash to Igboho for the operation, thus shortchanging Igboho to the tune of N5m out of the N50m purse provided by Tinubu. The discovery of this has brewed disenchantment in their midst.\u201d<\/p>\n However, in a statement on Tuesday by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, Adams described the voice note as distorted.<\/p>\n He also described the threat of lawsuits by Igboho and Ayinde as \u201ca grand conspiracy\u201d to discredit his person, saying he was ready to do everything to protect his hard-earned name and the office he represented.<\/p>\n In the statement titled \u2018Don\u2019t take my silence for cowardice, Gani Adams speaks on alleged defamation of character,\u2019 he said his reaction became pertinent as it had become evident \u201cthat Igboho and Ayinde were not ready to toe the line of peace as initiated by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams therefore in a rejoinder to Olumide-Fusika\u2019s pre-action letter, written by his lawyers, Oluwole Kehinde and Rosemary Thompson, dated Monday but obtained by The PUNCH on Tuesday, denied the content and inferences drawn by Ayinde\u2019s lawyer in the audio clip.<\/p>\n The letter partly read, \u201cFirstly, our client denies the content and inferences drawn by you in your letter under reference regarding the alleged audio clip you attributed to our client. As stated in your letter, the content of the alleged video clip, which is a concocted, distorted, and disjointed part of a private conversation between our client and another person in 2021, was published and widely circulated by one Chief Sunday Adeyemo (Alias \u2018Sunday Ighoho\u2019) and not our client.\u201d<\/p>\n It also said, \u201cFurthermore, it is obvious from the alleged defamatory remarks that our client mentioned that it was a \u2018rumoured and unconfirmed piece of information that he found difficult to believe\u2019 and could not be shared publicly. Thus, there is no element of malice on the part of our client pertaining to the alleged statement attributed to him in the said video clip.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams was further quoted in the statement by his media aide as saying, \u201cThe reason for my silence in the midst of the various legal and media infractions by Igboho and Ayinde, was not because I am a coward, but because of the initial interventions of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, other prominent Obas and several other important personalities in Yorubaland.<\/p>\n \u201cBut with the ongoing lies and aspersions against my person, I think it is time for me to come out open and set the record straight.<\/p>\n \u201cThough my legal team has done what was required of them, I need to state clearly that the audio clip generating the squabbles was a distorted and disjointed content of a private conversation that held way back in 2021 with a US-based younger brother of a friend.<\/p>\n \u201cThe conversation was initiated by the young man who claimed he wanted a reconciliation between myself, Igboho, and some other people.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was while responding on reasons for reconciliation at the time that he mentioned the names of the two people.\u201d<\/p>\n Adams noted that in the circulating audio, he said repeatedly that, though it was very difficult to believe, there was an unconfirmed rumour allegedly linking Igboho to the murder of the late Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.<\/p>\n \u201cMy statement was not done in bad faith, and it was purely a private conversation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He stressed that \u201cHowever, on the issue of my brother, Tayo Ayinde, let me make it clear here that I repeatedly said that whatever was said was a rumour that couldn\u2019t be substantiated or made public.\u201d<\/p>\n The Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, has warned against what he termed as deliberate efforts by some individuals to drag his name in the mud, saying his silence should not be taken for cowardice. Adams, while speaking on the controversy generated by an audio clip, said he was ready to set the records straight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":174783,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2],"tags":[19079,56650,19456],"yoast_head":"\n