Another Lawyer From Afe Babalola’s Law Firm Files N600M Libel Suit Against Dele Farotimi Over Book Claims

Ola Faro, who is the Deputy Managing Partner at Afe Babalola & Co.’s Port Harcourt office, filed the suit at the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt on 11 December, alleging that Mr Farotimi defamed him in his controversial book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’

The suit comes on the heel of an earlier one regarding the content of the book filed at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja by Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and managing partner at Afe Babalola & Co.

Mr Ogunwumiju obtained on Wednesday an interim order for the seizure of the physical copies of the book ahead of further hearing in the case, which seeks N500 million in damages against Mr Farotimi.

Aside from the civil cases, the police are prosecuting Mr Farotimi on charges of criminal defamation at a chief magistrate’s court and cybercrime at the Federal High Court, both in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.

The criminal cases were prompted by a petition Mr Babalola sent to the police in Ekiti State, alleging criminal defamation against him in Mr Farotimi’s book.

The law firm has also petitioned the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) seeking Mr Farotimi’s disbarment over his claims in the book against it, its lawyers, and the Nigerian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court.

For his part, Mr Faro referenced excerpts from the book alleging that he, along with Mr Babalola and his law firm, Afe Babalola & Co., as well as its lawyers, compromised the Supreme Court and the remaining semblance of integrity it.

He said Mr Farotimi’s statements are false and incorrect written deliberately to destroy his reputation.

He maintained that the statements were meant to lower his law firm’s self-esteem in the eyes of members of the society and also to expose it to hatred, contempt or ridicule in the eyes of right thinking members of the society.

He seeks N500 million in damages against Mr Farotimi for unlawful defamation of his character in the book, and N100 million in damages for distributing the book.

He also sought a perpetual injunction restraining Mr Farotimi, his marketers, agents from further distribution

The suit is the latest in the series of legal actions, including criminal and civil cases Mr Farotimi has faced over the content of the book since last week.

Mr Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), had petitioned the police in Ekiti State accusing Mr Farotimi of defaming him in his book.

Mr Babalola had cited 31 excerpts from the book, including one that accused him of corrupting the Supreme Court in the service of his clients.

Acting on Mr Babalola’s petition, the police have charged Mr Farotimi with criminal defamation at a chief magistrate’s court and with cybercrime at the Federal High Court, both in Ado-Ekiti.

The Federal High Court judge, Babs Kuewumi, granted bail to Mr Farotimi in the sum of N50 million and adjourned the trial till 29 January 2025.

But the chief magistrate’s court fixed 20 December to rule on Mr Farotimi’s bail application.

In addition to the criminal cases, a lawyer from Mr Babalola’s firm, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, has also sued Mr Farotimi for N500 million in a civil libel case at the FCT High Court in Abuja.

Mr Ogunwumiju said Mr Farotimi libelously accused the law firm of “compromising the integrity of the Supreme Court,” scheming with “crooked lawyers and incompetent justices,” and “doctoring” a Supreme Court judgement.