Bash Ali (left) and Sunday Dare
A high court in Abuja has struck out the case filed by Bash Ali, a former world cruiserweight boxing champion, against Sunday Dare, a former sports minister, over allegations of extortion and defamation of character.
At the court session on Thursday, U.P. Kekemeke, presiding judge, struck out the suit and declared the life of the case terminated.
In the case numbered FCT/HC/CV/6411/2023, Ali sued Dare, the federal government, and D.A. Muhammad, who was the legal director of the sports ministry.
Ali accused Dare of extorting N13 million from him to stage a Guinness World Record fight in Nigeria.
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The former boxing champion also claimed that the federal government stalled the hosting of the fight despite facilitating an advance payment of $12 million.
In Ali’s prayer to the court, he demanded N500 billion in damages for the alleged extortion and defamation of his character by Dare during the period.
At the hearing, the judge criticised Ali for being frivolous and wasting the court’s time. The court effectively dismissed all the allegations against Dare, and the suit’s statute was barred.
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For over 20 years, Ali has been aiming to clinch the world record for the oldest boxing champion.
The 69-year-old seeks to beat the record set by Bernard Hopkins when he defeated Tavoris Cloud in 2013 to win the IBF light-heavyweight crown at 48.
In pursuit of his quest, Ali has been embroiled in bitter disputes with successive sports ministers and has accused several individuals of corruption.
In 2013, the legendary boxer accused Bolaji Abdullahi, a former sports minister, of demanding a bribe to stage the record match. The situation deteriorated after Abdullahi demanded a public apology from Ali over the allegation, and the boxer refused.
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In 2015, Ali also fell out with Dalung after accusing the then sports minister of frustrating the organisation of the match. He claimed that Dalung had been plotting to cut a deal for himself with the Bank of Industry and NEXIM Bank, who had reportedly planned to sponsor the fight.
In 2024, the former cruiserweight champion accused John Enoh, another former sports minister, of demanding “$1 million” from him before the record bout could be staged. It took a threat of legal action from the former sports minister to restrain Ali from making further defamatory comments.
