Due to allegations that he profited from the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser on Arab and African matters, Massad Boulos, has threatened legal action.
The American businessman and diplomat, through his family’s attorney, Kemi Pinheiro, stated in a cease-and-desist letter, seen by ENigeria Newspaper, that his clients have not “received, appropriated, or benefitted from any such exaggerated or fictitious sums from the federal government or any other entity whatsoever.”
Boulos’s lawsuit threat came in the heels of recent social media reports, Hitech Construction Company Ltd., which said that the business that the federal government awarded the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project to, receives equipment from SCOA Nigeria, a heavy-duty truck dealer where Boulos is CEO.
Additionally, the social media reports claimed that Trump has kept quiet about Nigerian issues, allegedly on Boulos’ advice, because his company is allegedly benefiting from federal government assistance.
Consequently, Pinheiro said the accusations made against his clients are “false, unsubstantiated, and form a fabrication of the author’s imagination.”
“We act as solicitors to Massad Fares Boulos, the entire Boulos family and SCOA Nigeria Plc, on whose instructions we write,” the letter reads.
“Our clients’ attention has been drawn to certain malicious, scandalous, and highly defamatory videos currently circulating on social media, wherein unfounded allegations are made suggesting that our clients unjustly benefitted from allocations under the Federal Government budget in connection with the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project.
“Our clients categorically deny these allegations in their entirety. The claims are false, baseless, and constitute a figment of the author’s imagination.
“At no time have our clients received, appropriated, or benefitted from any such exaggerated or fictitious sums from the federal government or any other entity whatsoever.
“These publications are not only misleading but have caused, and continue to cause, serious harm to our clients’ hard-earned reputation and standing. Accordingly, we hereby demand that all individuals, social media platforms, and entities involved in the dissemination of these falsehoods.
“Immediately cease and desist from further publication or circulation of the said videos and related content, and remove and take down all existing posts, videos, or materials containing the defamatory allegations.”
ENigeria Newspaper also learnt that the attorney added that if the cyberbullying continues, his clients will submit a petition and take legal action.
