Renowned Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Aare Afe Babalola, has accused lawyer and activist Dele Farotimi of defaming him in his recently published book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
In a petition submitted to the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Babalola claimed that Farotimi’s book contained defamatory statements that questioned his integrity and accused his law firm, Afe Babalola & Co, of corrupting the judiciary.
The petition specifically mentions references to a case involving the Gbadamosi Eletu family, which Babalola’s team won in 2013, and claims that Farotimi suggested Babalola had influenced the Supreme Court to obtain a fraudulent judgment.
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.
“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.
“That Afe Babalola libeled me and the fact of the libel became known to me in a suit against Lawal Pedro SAN.
“That I sued Afe Babalola SAN for libel and he leveraged his influence in the Judiciary to deny me justice.”
Babalola expressed concerns that Farotimi’s accusations were intended to tarnish his reputation, discredit his law firm, and undermine public trust in the Nigerian legal system.
Farotimi, in turn, has been remanded in custody following his arrest by the Ekiti police on charges of criminal defamation, with the case expected to continue in court.
The controversy has sparked widespread debate about the balance between freedom of expression and the protection of individual reputations, as well as concerns over the integrity of Nigeria’s judiciary.