A Federal High Court in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, has granted bail to human rights lawyer Dele Farotimi in a defamation case filed by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and founder of Afe Babalola University, Aare Afe Babalola.
Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, announced the development on Monday via his X (Twitter) handle. According to Sowore, the court set Farotimi’s bail at N50 million with a surety of the same amount, requiring the provision of landed property as collateral.
The case has been adjourned to January 29, 2025.
Background
Farotimi was arrested in Lagos last Tuesday and brought to Ado-Ekiti to face trial over allegations made in his book, *Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System.* The book accused Aare Afe Babalola and his law firm of corrupt practices, including influencing the Supreme Court to secure fraudulent judgments for clients.
Some of the key allegations in Farotimi’s book include:
– Corruption of the Supreme Court to procure fraudulent judgments.
– Alteration of Supreme Court judgments by the law firm S.B. Joseph & Co. to obtain an execution warrant.
– Complicity by Justice Atilade in issuing and later quashing the fraudulent warrant.
– Compromise of the judiciary, undermining its integrity.
– A broader assertion that Nigeria’s justice system is criminally complicit and incapable of delivering true justice.
Aare Afe Babalola has denied the allegations, describing them as baseless and defamatory, intended to tarnish his reputation and the legacy of his law firm, established in 1965. Babalola has also demanded the removal of all copies of the book from circulation.
