Ize‑Iyamu denies that Vanguard Newspaper is a clone.

By Ozioruva Aliu

BENIN CITY—Pastor Osagie Ize‑Iyamu, an Edo South senatorial aspirant and a senior member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), denied that the Tuesday edition of Vanguard Newspaper had been cloned. The front‑page content had suggested that he had secured the senatorial ticket through intervention by the party’s National Working Committee.

He also threatened legal action against Collins Osaghae, the Special Adviser on Digital Media to Governor Monday Okpebholo, accusing him of distributing the alleged cloned copy and of making defamatory statements.

Speaking to journalists at his Benin City residence, Ize‑Iyamu said, “These people are desperate and they want to soil my name and reputation. You can imagine the mischief they intended; they even went as far as saying that ‘I want to contest for the 2027 presidential election.’”

He added that, as a party member, he had directed supporters to vote for President Bola Tinubu in the primary election, which Tinubu won decisively. “Yet the mischief makers wrote that I want to be president,” he said.

A letter from Faithful Stewards solicitors to Osaghae, Ize‑Iyamu said, stated that the allegation of cloning the Vanguard front page was false and that the accompanying comments were libelous. He demanded that Osaghae provide evidence that he had forged the headlines, authorized, or participated in the circulation of the paper as alleged.

He further requested that, if such evidence could not be produced within 48 hours, an apology and retraction be published on seven selected television stations and seven national newspapers, as well as on several online channels.

He also demanded N2 billion as reparation.

The law firm described Ize‑Iyamu as “a responsible family head and a decent Nigerian citizen. He is a legal practitioner and one‑time Chief of Staff, Secretary to Edo State Government, a politician and ordained Minister of God, a businessman and a farmer.”

He expressed shock at receiving the online statement, describing it as libelous and noting that the language used was derogatory, intended to “malign, denigrate and injure the hard‑earned reputation of our client as it relates to his political ambition for the seat of the Edo South Senatorial District in the circumstance.”

Recall that Ize‑Iyamu contested the Edo South Senatorial District and is disputing the result announced by the party’s primary election committee, where he placed third behind Senator Neda Imasuen and Omoregie Ogbeide‑Ihama, who was declared the winner. He maintains that he won the same exercise.

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