Former spokesman to ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, on Thursday said legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola, has the right to seek redress over alleged defamation against him.
Akande, however, frowned upon the use of state machinery and police to harass activist lawyer, Dele Farotimi, over the alleged defamation.
Some police officers had arrested Farotimi and arraigned him before an Ado Ekiti Magistrate Court for allegedly defaming Babalola’s character.
Farotimi was said to have defamed the legal luminary in his recently published book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.
On Wednesday, the court ordered that Farotimi be remanded in prison, despite his pleading not guilty to all 16 count charges against him.
Reacting, Akande posted on X:
“One would like to react to the recent harassment and arrest of Dele Farotimi. The recourse to criminal defamation by a legal luminary of Chief Afe Babalola’s standing is not inspiring at all. The matter ought to have been pursued via civil means.
“The Nigerian Court of Appeal in 1982 in the case of Nwankwo vs. State opined that individuals ought not to use the instrument of state to fight their opponents. This is why Lagos and Edo states decriminalised defamation.
“Besides, it is truly disturbing to discover that our dear Pa. Afe may be behind the harassment of Farotimi—something that we have all seen on video. The use of the Nigerian Police Force, mobilised from Ekiti to Lagos to escape the fact that Lagos State has already decriminalised defamation, is so inelegant.
“Pa Afe, SAN, as he is fondly called, should consider the optics of what the world is witnessing unfold in this saga, in his name! The natural assumption, considering the speed and extent to which the police moved against Farotimi, is that there were some behind-the-scenes manoeuvres to warrant that.
“This is not to deny Pa. Afe’s right to seek redress. He is aggrieved, and we acknowledge his right to seek redress—this is without a doubt. It is his choice to exercise this right in the manner we have all seen that is unsettling! TROUBLING.”
Dele Farotimi: Afe Babalola has right to seek redress – Osinbajo ex-aide, Akande