Renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria and founder of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola, has accused lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi of defamation in a recently published book.
The allegation relates to a Supreme Court judgment concerning a land dispute that lasted for over two decades.
In a petition dated November 19 and addressed to the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Adeniran Akinwale, Babalola outlined how his law firm discovered Farotimi’s book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System, and the defamatory content it contained.
Read Also: Read Afe Babalola’s Petition Against Dele Farotimi
“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 alleged that the book contained multiple 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.”
Read Also: What Dele Farotimi Wrote About Afe Babalola
Providing background on the case, the petition explained that it involved 254 hectares of land in Lagos, which the Supreme Court had awarded to his client in 2013.
Babalola further alleged that Farotimi’s remarks in the book insinuated that he and his law firm had compromised the judiciary, thus undermining the integrity of the Supreme Court.
The petition also stated that Farotimi’s statements, which were amplified in media interviews and widely circulated online, were intended to damage his reputation, discredit his law firm, and erode client 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.
The petition explained that the controversy stemmed from the Supreme Court ruling on July 13, 2013, which favored Babalola’s client, the Gbadamosi Eletu family.
The case concerned land acquired by the Lagos State Government but later contested by the Ojomu family, who had 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 it had been sold.
However, the ruling led to further litigation from estates impacted by the decision, including Pinnock Estate, NICON Estate, and others.
Babalola claimed that Farotimi, acting as counsel for one of these estates, criticized 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 after being arrested on a 16-count charge of criminal defamation.
He was apprehended by officers from the Ekiti police command in Lagos and brought to Ekiti for arraignment.
Babalola has called for an immediate investigation into Farotimi’s allegations, the seizure of all copies of the book, and a suspension of its distribution.
He also urged authorities to address what he described as Farotimi’s blatant “disregard for the rule of law.”
Babalola, who sees himself as a pillar of the Nigerian legal profession, highlighted his six-decade-long career, which has been defined by integrity, discipline, and professionalism.
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