N90bn FIRS Fund: RootsTV Deletes Controversial Video About Osinbajo

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An online media platform, RootsTV has deleted a “defamatory” video publication about Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, from its YouTube channel.

This comes less than 24hours after Osinbajo through his counsel, Femi Atoyebi, SAN, threatened Google with a libel suit if the video was not pulled down and publisher suspended.

In a letter addressed to the American multinational technology company, Atoyebi said the video posted on Sept 20, 2019, made false accusations against his client (VP Osinbajo).

He argued that the video was aimed at painting Osinbajo in bad light before Nigerians, “with whom he had built a reputation of honesty.”

Atoyebi said RootsTV had accused Osinbajo of stacking up public funds for his “presidential ambition” in 2023, and that Abba Kyari, Chief of Staff to the President, discovered Osinbajo’s meddling in the finances of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).

According to the letter, the video also claimed that the vice president was unable to explain the ‘failed disbursement’ to beneficiaries of the Social Intervention Programme (SIP) of the Federal Government in Adamawa State.

The letter warned Google that the vice president would consider legal actions against them if the video was not taken down within 24 hours.

A quick check on RootsTV channel early Thursday showed that the controversial video has since been pulled down. It was, however, not clear if Google has hand in the development.

But the YouTube channel of the video publisher still remains intact, with about 23.8k subscribers as at the time of filing this report with no apology in sight.

Osinbajo had earlier on Wednesday demanded a retraction of a similar publication by Vanguard Newspapers as well as an apology. He also threatened legal action if the paper failed to comply, which they did.

Meanwhile, Vice President Osinbajo in a series of tweets on Wednesday, vowed to waive his constitutional immunity to allow full-scale investigation into the allegations leveled against him.

This is even as the vice president revealed that he had okayed a legal action against one Comrade Timi Frank, the author behind the said “defamatory publications”.