A team of lawyers representing Prof. Zacharys Anger Gundu, leader of Tiv Professionals, in a suit of alleged defamation initiated by the Government of Nasarawa State (GNS) and Engr. Abdullahi Sule (Governor) (Claimants/Applicants) has raised a Preliminary Objection challenging the jurisdiction of a Federal High Court (FHC), sitting at Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to hear and determine the suit against Prof. Gundu.
GNS and Engr. Sule has jointly sued Prof. Gundu over Prof. Gundu’s comments made on July 10. They are claiming One Hundred Billion, Five Hundred Million Naira (N100.5 billion) in damages and litigation costs. The suit is marked as FCT/HC/CV/3554/2025, with Prof. Gundu as the lone defendant.
In a statement of defence, sighted by TNT, Prof. Gundu vehemently denied that he mentioned the Government of Nasarawa State in his statement and that the two (Claimants) acknowledged it in their notice of action, admitting that only Engr. Sule is alleged to have been defamed.
Therefore, it is the contention of the team that since the Claimants are alleging defamation and Prof. Gundu did not mention GNS, all the paragraphs of the claim that use the term “Claimants” (Paragraphs 10-12 and 16-35) should be struck out accordingly.
According to the defence, the combination of a plaintiff/Claimant who has a cause of action and a plaintiff/Claimant who has no cause of action in a suit, and their claiming of reliefs in that suit for their joint benefit, is unknown to the law and therefore constitutes an abuse of court process.
TNT understands that Prof. Hon, SAN, who is leading the team, is not only asking the court to dismiss the suit, but he is also asking for “substantial costs” against GNS and Engr. Sule.
If the court may proceed to the substance of the suit, it is the prayer of the defence team that the matter be dismissed on the merits of the defence raised by Prof. Gundu.
They have supplied data and particulars of the lawsuit against the seizure of land in the north-central state by the Government of Nasarawa State, along with other relevant documents as a defence.
