A United States Federal Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Joseph Lesson, has ordered that Jackson Ude of Point Blank News should not (directly or indirectly) engage in any act either to harass or spread false information against the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, of Point Blank Resources.
It is recalled that Sylva went to court to defend his defamation case against one Jackson Ude over publications alleging bribery, fraud, and corruption in the awarding of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 contract in a joint venture, led by Italy’s Saipem.
The contract, worth $4 billion, is for the engineering, procurement, and construction of the production unit at the gas company’s Bonny Island plant in Rivers State.
According to a court document sighted by Swift Reporters, the Specific Provisions stated that:
1. Ude represents and warrants that his employer, Point Blank News, will cooperate with him and work with him for the good faith and amicable resolution of this matter. Ude further represents and warrants that he does not own Point Blank News and that Point Blank News is his employer.
2. Ude will reasonably and in good faith take down, delete, and destroy all articles and publications that allege any criminal or other misconduct by Sylva appearing on the Point Blank News website and from Ude’s social media accounts, especially those publications in issue in this case.
Thereafter, if Sylva reasonably discovers any article or publication violative of this Agreement still existing, Sylva will inform Ude first and give Ude reasonable notice (no longer than one-week absent extraordinary circumstances) to delete, it before such may be deemed a breach.
3. Ude will not (directly or indirectly) engage in any act either to harass or spread false information against Sylva.
4. Ude will not (directly or indirectly) publish any false or defamatory information about Sylva, with liquidated damages of $25,000 per any such publication and attorneys’ fees to the winner of any litigation therefrom. In such litigation, Plaintiff is a winner if he wins, and Defendant is a winner if Plaintiff losses or if the case is dismissed (unless the case is dismissed on stipulation or consent of both parties).
5. Within (7) days from the Effective Date, Sylva and Ude will execute the necessary stipulation to dismiss the Lawsuit, in the form of Annex A hereto, and will file the Agreement and Annexes with the Court.
6. Within (7) days from the Effective Date, Ude will send Sylva (through the parties’ attorneys), and publish only once on the Point Blank News website (which shall remain viewable from the homepage for seven days), a hand-signed and dated certification, in the form of Annex B hereto.
7. No amount of money will exchange hands between the Parties as part of this resolution and Agreement.
Here is the full Resolution of the Court: https://swiftreporters.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/DOC-20220811-WA0035..pdf
