The political drama has moved from the airwaves to the courtroom as Senate President Godswill Akpabio threatens legal action against Lagos State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Adetokunbo Pearse, for alleged false and defamatory remarks made during a live television interview.
Akpabio’s legal representatives, S. I. Ameh (SAN) & Co., issued a strong-worded demand letter, dated October 7, 2025, ordering Pearse to retract his statements and issue a public apology within three days. Failure to comply will result in an immediate lawsuit for defamation and criminal incitement.
The Alleged Attack on Live TV
The core of the dispute stems from comments Pearse made on a political segment aired on Arise Television on October 4, 2025. The letter, titled “Demand for Immediate Retraction and Public Apology for Defamatory Publication Against Senator Godswill Akpabio, GCON,” pointed out that Pearse leveled unsubstantiated allegations of criminality, corruption, and manipulation against the Senate President.
During the broadcast, Pearse was quoted as saying:
“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. Any president who wants to manipulate it can do so. And this one is actually manipulating it to the detriment of progress for Nigerians. 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… If he has criminal cases, let him go and answer them. There’s no way a man like that should be there in the first place.”
Reputational Damage and Legal Consequences
Akpabio’s legal team insisted that these remarks were entirely false and made in bad faith with a total disregard for the truth. They argued that the comments were calculated to portray their client as a corrupt and dishonest politician, thereby exposing him to public hatred and ridicule.
The letter explicitly stated that these assertions are “deeply offensive, defamatory, and malicious,” wrongly painting the Senate President as a criminal, a corrupt politician, a misogynist, and a manipulator of democratic institutions. The lawyers contended that the broadcast and its subsequent widespread circulation on social media have caused Senator Akpabio severe reputational injury, emotional distress, and embarrassment, effectively undermining public confidence in the Senate’s leadership.
The three-day ultimatum now forces Pearse to either issue a public apology and retraction or prepare to defend his televised comments in court.
