Senior lawyer and founder of Afe Babalola University Afe Babalola has accused activist and author Dele Farotimi of defamation in his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
The allegations centre on statements in the book that Babalola claims are defamatory, particularly concerning a long-standing Supreme Court judgment in a land dispute case that lasted over 20 years.
In a petition dated November 19, addressed to the Ekiti State commissioner of police Adeniran Akinwale, Babalola outlined his grievances. His law firm, Afe Babalola and Co., reportedly discovered the book and its alleged defamatory content, reports PUNCH on Thursday.
Babalola asserted that the claims made in the publication not only tarnished his reputation but also misrepresented the facts surrounding his involvement in the land dispute.
“I write to report the criminal defamation of myself, my law firm Afe Babalola & Co and my lawyers in person of Olu Daramola SAN and Ola Faro by one Dele Farotimi in his book titled ‘NIGERIA AND ITS CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM’ published by Dele Farotimi publishers in respect of Suit no: SC/146/2005: Major Muritala Gbadamosi Eletu & Ors V. H.R.H Oba Tijani Akinloye & Ors,” the petition read.
He claimed the book contained several defamatory statements that questioned his integrity and accused his law firm of unethical practices, including corrupting the judiciary.
He added, “Sometime on 2/11/2024, one of our lawyers while travelling through Murtala Muhammed Airport bought a book by Dele Farotimi titled ‘NIGERIA AND ITS CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM’ published by Dele Farotimi publishers. He read the said book and immediately brought it to my attention. Many of my lawyers also bought the said book and read same.”
Babalola stated that the book accused him of “corrupting the Supreme Court from ages past and had led it to commit the most egregious acts of evil and wanting injustice.”
The petition noted, “The said defamatory statements are detailed below: ‘That Aare Afe Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgement in the service of his client See page IX.
‘That Aare Afe Babalola, Olu Daramola, Olu Faro and the law offices of Afe Babalola & Co, (Emmanuel Chambers) compromised the Supreme Court and the remaining semblance of integrity it might have had when they went back to the Supreme Court and got the Court to swim in the sewer of corruption and shameful self-Abnegation. See page X.
‘That Afe Babalola libeled me and the fact of the libel became known to me in a suit against Lawal Pedro SAN. See page X.
‘That I sued Afe Babalola SAN for libel and he leveraged his influence in the Judiciary to deny me justice”. See page X.’”
Giving a background of the case, the petition stated that the case concerned 254 hectares of land in Lagos, which the Supreme Court awarded to his client in 2013.
He further alleged that Farotimi’s comments in the book suggested that he and his law firm compromised the judiciary, tarnishing the integrity of the apex court.
According to the petition, Farotimi’s statements, which were also highlighted in media interviews and widely circulated online, were designed to damage his reputation, discredit his law firm, and cause clients to lose trust in his professional ethics.
“All these statements are false and incorrect written deliberately to destroy my reputation. Dele Farotimi referred to me severally in his book as the Doyen of the legal profession,” Babalola said.
According to the petition, the controversy originated from the Supreme Court judgment on July 13, 2013, which ruled in favour of Babalola’s client, the Gbadamosi Eletu family.
The case involved land acquired by the Lagos State Government but later contested by the Ojomu family, who sold the land to Babalola’s client decades earlier.
Babalola’s legal team successfully argued that the Ojomu family acted in bad faith by attempting to reclaim the land after its sale.
However, the judgment sparked litigation from estates affected by the ruling, including Pinnock Estate, NICON Estate, and others.
Babalola said that Farotimi, as counsel to one of these estates, criticised the judgment in his book and accused Babalola of unethical conduct.
On Wednesday, Farotimi was remanded in prison custody by a magistrate court in Ado-Ekiti following his arrest on a 16-count charge of criminal defamation.
He was apprehended by officers of the Ekiti police command in Lagos and transported to Ekiti for arraignment.
