A lawyer from Afe Babalola’s law firm has initiated a libel suit against Dele Farotimi, seeking N600 million in damages.
The claim was filed by Ola Faro at the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt on December 11, citing defamation in Farotimi’s controversial book, “Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.”
This legal action follows a similar suit filed by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and managing partner at Afe Babalola & Co., in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja. In this prior case, Ogunwumiju obtained an interim order for the seizure of the book’s physical copies in anticipation of further hearings, with the claim seeking N500 million in damages.
In addition to the civil lawsuits, Farotimi is facing criminal prosecution on charges of defamation and cybercrime in separate cases at a chief magistrate’s court and the Federal High Court, both located in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State. These criminal charges stem from a petition submitted by Afe Babalola to the police, alleging defamation as detailed in Farotimi’s book.
The law firm is also pursuing a complaint with the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) to seek Farotimi’s disbarment based on statements made in the book regarding the firm, its lawyers, and the Nigerian judiciary, specifically the Supreme Court.
Ola Faro has responded to excerpts from the book by asserting that both he and Babalola, along with Afe Babalola & Co., are falsely portrayed as having compromised the integrity of the Supreme Court. Mr. Faro argues that Farotimi’s allegations are untrue and were crafted with the intent to damage his reputation. He claims that the statements aim to diminish his law firm’s standing in society and expose it to public disdain.
He is seeking N500 million for alleged defamation and an additional N100 million for the distribution of the book. Furthermore, he is requesting a permanent injunction to prevent Farotimi and his agents from distributing the book any further.
This lawsuit represents the latest development in a series of legal challenges that Farotimi has faced concerning the contents of his book since last week. Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), had previously filed a complaint with the police alleging defamation stemming from 31 specific excerpts in the book, one of which accuses him of corrupting the Supreme Court for personal gain.
In response to Babalola’s complaint, the police have charged Farotimi with criminal defamation and cybercrime. Recently, a Federal High Court judge, Babs Kuewumi, granted Farotimi bail set at N50 million, postponing the trial to January 29, 2025. Meanwhile, the chief magistrate’s court is scheduled to decide on Farotimi’s bail request on December 20.
Moreover, Kehinde Ogunwumiju has also filed a civil libel case against Farotimi in the FCT High Court, seeking N500 million in damages over allegations that accuse his firm of compromising the Supreme Court’s integrity, colluding with dishonest lawyers and ineffective justices, and manipulating a court judgment. Farotimi has denied all allegations.
On Wednesday, the court ordered the seizure of all physical copies of the book wherever they may be located.
