Abuja — The Vice Chancellor of the University of Mkar, Benue State, Professor Zacharys Anger Gundu, has asked the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to strike out a ₦100.5 billion defamation suit filed against him by the Nasarawa State Government and Governor Abdullahi Sule.
The request is contained in a notice of preliminary objection filed by the defendant through his legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Sebastian Hon. The objection challenges the competence of the suit and urges the court to decline jurisdiction over the matter.
Professor Gundu, in the objection, described the suit—marked FCT/HC/CV/3554/2025—as frivolous and an abuse of court process. He contended that the claimants failed to comply with a mandatory condition precedent required for the validity of the originating processes.
According to the defendant, the alleged failure to meet the requirements stipulated under Order 2 Rule 8 of the FCT High Court Civil Procedure Rules, 2025, renders the suit procedurally defective.
The objection further argued that non-compliance with the prescribed rules deprives the court of the jurisdiction to entertain the matter, thereby making the suit liable to be struck out.
The FCT High Court is expected to hear and determine the preliminary objection before taking any further steps in the substantive defamation claim instituted by the Nasarawa State Government and Governor Sule.
Margaret ABAH
