An FCT High Court has dismissed an objection by Binance Holdings Ltd and the CEO Richard Teng seeking to strike out the defamation suit by a member of the House of Representative, Ginger Obinna Onwusibe.
Justice Edward Okpe in a ruling on Monday dismissed the application on the grounds that refusing the suit because the claimant had served the respondents through substituted service, by mail, would amount to technicality.
Citing Oputa, JSC in Aliyu Bello vs AG Oyo State, Justice Okpe said, “the court is more interested in substance than mere forms; justice can only be done when substance of the matter is not undermined for reliance on technicalities to the detriment of substantial justice leads to injustice.”
Binance and Teng had through their lawyer, Mark Mordi (SAN) argued that the claimant did not fulfill the conditions for service of the processes on Teng outside the jurisdiction of the court based on Order 8 Rule 3 of the FCT High Court Procedure Rules.
The lawyer had also asked the court to discharge Teng as he was a disclosed agent of Binance, adding that the court lacked the jurisdiction to proceed with the matter.
They had asked the court to set aside its ex parte order for service of the processes on Teng by mail on October 31, 2024.
Onwusibe, who is the Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, had through his counsel, Nnamdi Ahaiwe, Esq filed the suit challenging the alleged defamatory statements made by the respondents that its team members, including Gambaryan Tigran, after he allegedly sent a letter to them for a hearing in December 2023.
Teng has twitted on X that based on the invitation, on January 8, 2024, the Binance team met members of the committee, including Peter Akpanke, Philip Agbese, Peter Aniekwe, who demanded “significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away.”
Onwusibe is asking the court to order the respondents to pay the sum of $2bn in general damages and another $1bn exemplary damages and $10m as cost of litigation.
The lawmaker is also demanding “a clear and unqualified apology and retraction of the offensive publication in accordance with the text earlier sent to the defendants in one full page each of three national newspapers, to wit: Vanguard Newspapers, Punch Newspapers and Thisday Newspapers, within seven days of the judgment.
“An order mandating the Defendants to pull down and delete the said offensive defamatory posts from Binance.Com and from the @_RichardTeng X (Twitter) page/account.”
The suit has been adjourned to May 19 for a hearing.
(Daily Trust)
