'I no want make Dele Farotimi go prison' - Afe Babalola resolve to withdraw defamation case

Ogbonge lawyer for Nigeria, Afe Babalola, go withdraw di libel suit wey e sama on top Dele Farotimi who be lawyer and civil rights activist, sake of say Farotimi allegedly accuse am of bribing judges to give judgement wey go favour am.

Tori tok say Babalola wey dey 95 years old now agree to comot di matter for court afta di Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, bin intervene for di matter.

Afta di meeting wey oda traditional rulers for Ekiti State bin also attend on Sunday, oga Babalola tok say im go tell im lawyers to discontinue di matter.

Di formal withdrawal process suppose happen dis Monday for di Ekiti State High court, Ado Ekiti, and BBC Pidgin dey monitor di proceedings.

Oga Babalola tok say many top political and religious leaders bin don beg am to drop di charges but e no gree, however, e dey gree for Oba Ogunwusi now sake of im respect for di Yoruba tradition.

"(Former President Olusegun) Obasanjo don write, and e come hia, I say no. Wen (Bishop Mathew Hassan) Kukah call me for phone and also come hia, I say no, but for dis occassion, I say yes. Thank you Kabiyesis. I go speak to my lawyers to withdraw am," Babalola tok according to Punch Newspaper.

"I no go gain anytin if dem imprison am (Farotimi). I no go gain anytin from di so-called damages. I no dey look for more wealth, rather na how to spend wetin I get for di benefit of odas."

Also, one senior lawyer for di law firm of oga Afe Babalola confirm dis recent development to BBC Pidgin say, however, e say some of im lawyers no gree wit dia principal.

Some lawyers wey also dey invole for dis matter tok say wetin Oga Babalola tok na im personal decision, and dem go kontinu wit dia own cases for court especially as Farotimi also follow defame some of dem.

"Di lawyers go meet later to deliberate, harmonise and issue one joint statement on how dem go proceed wit di matter," di source wey plead anonymity tok.

Background of di tori

In December 2024, di Nigeria Police from Ekiti State command bin arrest Dele Farotimi, popular human rights lawyer, from im office in Lagos and carry am to Ekiti State wia dem detain am for some days bifor dem arraign am for court.

Di police say Farotimi arrest na sake of petition wey Afe Babalola bin file against am wia e accuse am of defamation and libel.

Farotimi bin write one book - Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System' - wia e accuse oga Afe Babalola say e corrupt Supreme Court to procure fraudulent judgement for im clients.

In total, di police sama 16 counts of offence on top Farotimi head, one dem be say e use di book wey e publish to "push false allegation wey go wunjure di Senior Advocate (Afe Ababalola) reputation and cause am hatred, contempt, ridicule and damage to im profession".

Farotimi plead not guilty to di charges and di court remand am for prison. Dem later grant am bail to di sum of N50 million and two sureties on December 9, but na until December 24 bifor dem release am afta e meet di bail conditions.

However, two oda senior lawyers from di Afe Babalola media firm bin don file separate law suits against Farotimi, on top di same libel and defamation allegation for two separate locations.

One of dem na Kehinde Ogunwumiju a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who file im case for di Federal Capital Territory High Court for Abuja.

Oga Ogunwumiju ask di court to order Farotimi to pay am ₦500 million in damages and also for di court to order make dem stop to dey sell di book for bookshops and on top Amazon.

Di second suit na by Ola Faro, anoda lawyer for Afe Babalola lwa firm, and e file dis one for Rivers State High Court for Port Harcourt, asking for N600 million in damages from Dele Farotimi.

Asides from di court cases, di Afe Babalola law firm bin don write 90-page petition to di Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) asking dem to disbar Dele Farotimi sake of say e "engage in conduct wey dey unbecoming of a legal practitioner by making false accusations against di Supreme Court and di legal profession".