Did Gbenga Obasanjo Err...?

It was quite interesting reading the candid opinion(?) of Dr. Gbenga Obasanjo - son of President Olusegun Obasanjo on a wide variety of issues.
Although he has since published a rejoinder (ThisDay Newspaper) via his lawyers refuting that he ever granted an interview with Omoyole Sowore of TheNews.
I find it hard to believe that Dr. Gbenga Obasanjo did not give his overt or covert permission to be quoted or published.
What the rest of us would like to know is this: did Gbenga ever had a discussion with Mr Sowore of TheNews Magazine? Was he (Gbenga) aware that Mr Sowore was a journalist at the time of their purported meeting? Were there questions asked and answers given... was there a Tape Recorder running... and did Gbenga Obasanjo at any point in the course of their conversation(?) asked Mr Sowore not to quote him or publish anything said in that vehicle or hotel or roadside...? What would be the difference in definition between an interview and a discussion between two consenting adults - where one them is a journalist?

Or has Gbenga suddenly realised the import and implication of his vituperation? Is he trying to amend the damage done to his father's one-sided campaign against corruption
and the insult he showered on vice president Atiku and the Awoist? Please read his lawyers rejoinder (ThisDay).:


President Olusegun Oba-sanjo's son, Dr. Gbenga Obasanjo, yesterday expla-ined his role in the alleged interview he granted TheNews magazine. In a letter from his lawyers to the management of TheNews and made available to THISDAY, Gbenga denied ever granting any interview, and expressed shock at the development.
TheNews magazine in its current edition published an interview allegedly granted by Gbenga, where he accused Vice President Atiku Abubakar of greed, inordinate ambition and other atrocities he allegedly committed in the privatisation process. The interview had also generated reactions from the Presidency, which dismissed Gbenga as speaking for himself.
In the said interview, Gbenga was quoted as saying, "Atiku just thinks that the Presidency is his birtthright. Look at AP and the privatisation process. They just sold the entire country to themselves. Look at the Pentascope deal...go to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and see those who own pentascope,"
He also reportedly denied the alleged third term bid of President Obasanjo, saying some people are urging his father to run "because they are afraid of Atiku. They know he will come and take over everything."
However, Gbenga, through his lawyers, S.O. Ajayi & Co., said the publication came to him as a rude shock, insisting that he never granted Omoyole Sowore any interview.
Rather, he said he met him at Seme Border in December last year and only had a private discussion with him, having declined his request for an interview.
According to Gbenga's lawyers, their client, who is currently out of the country, has been inundated with calls, regretting that the reporter exploited the favour he granted him to publish a "disastrous" piece.
"Our client got to know about the story late evening yesterday (Sunday) and since then, he is being inundated with several calls from family members, friends, well wishers and associates, both within and outside of Nigeria expressing concern over the contents of the alleged interview in all its ramifications and circumstances. This story is also attracting deep interest of operators of the electronic media, as it has continued to be used as regular news since this (yesterday) morning by some radio stations in Lagos State; both Yoruba and English channels.
"This has caused and continues to shock our client who states unequivocally that he did not grant the reporter, Mr. Omoyele Sowore any interview as claimed or at all. At no time did Mr. Sowore put questions to our client, which elicited the responses reported in the papers and TheNews magazine.
"The truth of the matter, according to our brief, was that our client met Mr. Sowore at the Nigerian Seme border sometime in December 2005, assisted Mr. Sowore to resolve some disagreement he had with some law enforcement agencies and gave him a ride to Lagos, a journey that took far less than two hours. Our client informed us that Mr. Sowore requested for an interview, which our client politely but clearly declined to grant.
"Our client informed us that it was in the course of the journey that Mr. Sowore, our client and one of our client's cousins who was with them in the vehicle had some private discussions. It is not unusual among Nigerians wherever they are gathered to evince their patriotic views. The contents of the discussions have been largely embellished. Our client denies the widespread political colouration given to the discussion and regrets the dimension that what he seees as a private and essential health related discussion has taken.
"Our client states that there is no way that he could have uttered such vituperation against people of such high calibre in his father's government. Our client insists that there were discussions, he insists that the reporter directly requested for an interview but he politely and directly declined the request. It is illegal and unbecoming of a reporter to turn the favour granted him by our client to what has now scandalised our client. The reporter took an advantage of our client's large heartedness to scoop a story of a disastrous proportion."
Gbenga, who said he regretted the embarrassment that the said interview has caused his entire family, demanded for an apology to himself and his father and immediate retraction of the interview by TheNews magazine, failing which he threatened to initiate legal actions against the magazine.
"The unsolicited and unauthorised story is deeply regretted by our client and he regrets the embarrassment that this might have caused members of his family. We have our client's instruction to request you to publish this letter as his rejoinder to the alleged interview and also to carry out a retraction of the story with apology both to him and his respectable father, Mr. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has been embarrassed by the alleged false interview.
"It is not our client's practice to air his grievances publicly or litigate on every wrong done to him and he does not seek to do so on this occasion, hence our demand for a retraction and apology. However, you will understand that if this is not forthcoming, then, our client will have no choice than to take the necessary steps that would preserve our client's and his family's reputation and integrity, given the widespeard nature of the publication that was packaged and branded in the purported interview that our client did not grant and the usual circumstances of this case," Gbenga’s lawyers wrote.