The Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State capital, on Wednesday struck out the defamation suit filed by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, against activist lawyer, Dele Farotimi, over alleged cybercrime. The case, which stemmed from comments made by Farotimi in an interview about his book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, particularly concerning the founder of …

The recent legal confrontation between esteemed legal luminary, Chief Afe Babalola, and activist lawyer, Mr. Dele Farotimi has cast a revealing light on the intricate interplay between Nigeria’s judiciary and Yoruba cultural tradition. At the heart of this dispute lies an accusation of corruption within the highest echelons of the nation’s legal system, a charge that not only challenges individual …

The founder of Afe Babalola University Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Ekiti State, Aare Afe Babalola has accepted to withdraw criminal defamation charges against human rights activist, Mr. Dele Farotimi. This followed the appeal by foremost Yoruba monarchs, including the Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Oguwusi. They pleaded with legal icon to drop the charges during a meeting with him at ABUAD campus. …

The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Justice, has paid approximately N1.1 billion as professional fees to prominent Nigerian lawyers, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, and 23 other law firms over a period of three years. This revelation emerged from an analysis of data provided by GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s …

Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, has expressed excitement over the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) approval of the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport. The governor disclosed that following the NCAA’s approval, the Ekiti Airport will from January be open to landing by private jets. The governor spoke on Wednesday when he paid a thank-you visit to elder statesman and …

Human rights lawyer and activist, Mr. Dele Farotimi has said that he did not ask anyone to plead with Aare Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who took him to court for defamation. Farotimi is currently standing trial in Ekiti State following a petition by Babalola regarding his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System. The 2023 presidential candidate …

Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains. One man thinks himself the master of others but remains more of a slave than they are – Jean-Jacques Rousseau One of the (once-upon-a-time) immovable pillars of our justice system is that a man is presumed innocent until otherwise proven. The man so accused is therefore allowed all his rights …

The question of whether the law of defamation is a hindrance to freedom of speech and a curtailment to democratic process confronted the Burkinabe, a few years ago. Lohe Issa Konaté was Burkina Faso, that landlocked West African country’s own Dele Farotimi. He was a journalist with the newspaper, L’Ouragan (The Hurricane). Like a tempestuous hurricane, on 1 August, 2012, …

On Friday, 18 October, Ado-Ekiti, under the leadership of our baba, His Majesty, Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejuyigbe, Aladesanmi III, rolled out the drums to celebrate the first Afe Babalola Day.  This was to honour Aare Afe Babalola, the city’s famous son, who is the Founder/Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD). For many decades now, Babalola, 95 on 30 October, …

The Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, on Wednesday, lampooned some wives of state governors for their preference for attending parties to human capital development. Babalola, who spoke in Ado Ekiti in reaction to the offer by the wife of Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Olayemi Oyebanji, to teach ABUAD students and give them academic mentorship, …