I’M NOT IN EFCC CUSTODY,” SAYS AKINTERINWA

• Threatens to sue The Nation newspaper 

Mr Wale Akinterinwa, former Commissioner of Finance in Ondo State, has denied being arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

A report, published by The Nation said Akinterinwa, who was among the 16 All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants that participated in the party primary election in Ondo State has been arrested by the ant-graft agency.

However, in a letter to The Nation Newspaper’s Editor-In-Chief signed by Wale Akinterinwa Campaign Organisation Director of Programme, Sola Ajisafe, the report was described as “false, untrue, and a fabrication concocted against Mr. Wale Akinterinwa’s person and character.”

Akinterinwa demanded that the media organisation retract the report or face legal action. 

The letter reads: “We not only regard this publication as defamatory of the person of Mr. Wale Akinterinwa, whom your publication identified as being in EFCC custody, but that the said publication is itself false, untrue, and a fabrication concocted against the person of Mr. Wale Akinterinwa to malign his person and character. 

“Your organization failed and or neglected to carry out fact-finding due diligence before making this unfortunate publication. As a matter of fact, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa is not in EFCC custody but in Ondo State. Mr. Wale Akinterinwa was physically present at the just concluded APC primary election in Ile-Oluji, his hometown on Saturday, and he is still in Ile-Oluji as of the time of writing this letter.

“Your publication is therefore not only false, it is full of untruths, it is concocted and fabricated to impugn on the integrity and the person of Mr. Wale Akinterinwa. 

“We therefore demand that you retract this publication and tender an unreserved apology to Mr. Wale Akinterinwa and our campaign organization within 48 hours which same should be published on your print media and online platform. 

“In the event that you fail to heed our demand, we shall be constrained to cause legal action to be instituted against your organization to press our demand and to ask for punitive damages”.