FEATURES
The Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD) Aare Afe Babalola SAN has agreed to withdraw the cases preferred against human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi over alleged defamation.
Following Babalola’s petition to the police commissioner in Ekiti that Farotimi defamed him in a book titled ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’, the police arrested the activist lawyer and arraigned him before two courts in Ekiti last year.
Farotimi stood trial for alleged criminal defamation before an Ekiti State Magistrate Court, Ado Ekiti District, and as well for alleged cyber-bullying before the Ado Ekiti Division of Federal High Court.
The magistrate court adjourned the case till February 13 and the federal high court till January 29.
The elder statesman who in the early hours of Monday after a midnight meeting with Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other top traditional rulers at the midnight meeting.
Also in attendance were the Chairman, Ekiti State Council of Traditional Rulers and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilori-Faboro; the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Adejugbe; the Ajero of Ijero Ekiti, Oba Joseph Adewole: the Ogoga of Ikere Ekiti, Oba Adejimi Adu; the Oloye of Oye Ekiti, Oba Michael Ademolaju; and the Alaaye of Efon Ekiti, Oba Emmanuel Aladejare.
The nonagenarian, who spoke on the value of Yoruba traditional institution in the country added, “The monarchs are here, they have appealed to me over a criminal charge involving somebody who said I was corrupt.”
The senior advocate said that he felt so bad that Farotimi accused him of winning all his cases through corruption; hence, he rejected all earlier appeals to him to take the cases out of court.
He listed those who had appealed to him to take the matter out of court including former President Olusegun Obasanjo; the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Kukah; and the Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Adejugbe.
He said, “If you go through the pamphlet (Farotimi’s book), you will find that he attacked many judges by names, he attacked Supreme Court judges, and none is bothered, but I am bothered. I am bothered because of where and how I started life, from the farm to where I am.
“There is nothing I am going to gain from his imprisonment. There is nothing I am going to gain from so-called damages. I am not in quest of more wealth, rather how to spend what I have for the benefit of others. The only time I am happy is when I give.
“The request is simple, take away this criminal case in court. When Obasanjo wrote, he came here, I said no. When Kukah phoned and came, I said no, but on this occasion, I say yes. Thank you Kabiyesis. I will speak to my lawyers to withdraw it.”
The Ooni, who spoke on behalf of Yoruba monarchs, had requested Babalola to withdraw the case in court, assuring him that “nobody can tarnish your name. Your name is more than silver and gold and you have stood for your name with the message that nobody can joke with your name.”
Ogunwusi, who acknowledged Babalola’s contributions to the development of Yoruba, Nigeria, and the world, said, “We (monarchs) came here to discuss the matter with him and he gave full respect to the obas and agreed.
“We, the obas, can attest to the hard work of Aare Afe Babalola and how he has invested so hard to build his name. The name cannot be tarnished or rubbished by anyone. Aare Afe Babalola has proven to the world that he cherishes his name and the world has heard him clearly.
“Baba, we want to appeal and also use our race to instruct you. Dele Farotimi is your son, you may not know him, we give birth to different children in this world, some are tough, some are soft, some are hard. Why we are here is our ethos as a race.”
The Ooni added, “We are using our race because some of our elders in Yorubaland and even beyond Yorubaland have spoken, but combining forces with the traditional institution, we have heard you, enough, enough and enough. Your name is intact. We have resolved the matter in our way, we have done the needful”.
[NigerianTribune]
Former presidential candidate, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has accused the Kano State Command of the Nigeria Police Force of acting in an unprofessional manner.
Kwankwaso, accused the Kano Police Command of issuing a false security alert in an attempt to prevent the Tijjaniyya Sufi Order’s annual Maulud celebration from taking place.
According to him, the action not only jeopardized the success of the gathering, but put the lives of the people of the state at risk.
Naija News recalls Kano Police had, on Friday, issued a terror alert on the eve of the planned gathering of the celebration scheduled for the Sani Abacha Stadium, saying terrorists planned to attack public gatherings in the state.
However, Kwankwaso, in a reaction on Monday via his account on the X platform, said the Police took a partisan decision by allowing itself to be used by the federal government in dabbling into the affairs of Kano State.
He said the alert issued by the Police turned out to be false and left a bad impression about the conduct, integrity, and activities of the Police.
While congratulating the Tijjaniyya Sufi Order, their Spiritual Leader, Shiekh Ibrahim Inyass, the Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II, and the Governor of the state, Abba Kabir Yusuf, for successfully hosting the event, Kwankwaso went ahead to caution the federal government against interfering in the local activities of Kano State.
He said: “I wish to congratulate the Tijjaniyya Sufi Order on the successful completion of the annual maulud of Shiekh Ibrahim Inyass, their Spiritual Leader, at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.
“I particularly felicitate with His Royal Highness, Khalifa Muhammad Sanusi II, the Emir of Kano and His Excellency, Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf, the Governor of Kano State for successfully organising the monumental event.
“However, I am concerned by a ‘terror alert’ from the Kano State Police Command on the eve of the event. This alert, not only jeopardised the success of the gathering, but put the lives of the people of the state at risk by creating palpable fear among the people of Kano, those that came from other countries and parts of Nigeria.
“Such conduct by the police, which has already been marked as a willing partner for the Federal Government in its habitual dabbling into the affairs of Kano State further puts its integrity in doubt.
“Issuing a threat alert of this magnitude, which later turns out to be false sets a dangerous precedent. I am afraid that it will lead to people to be complacent in the event of a genuine threat in the future.
“Due to the international nature of the event, the conduct of the police leadership in Kano also leaves a bad impression of the Nigeria Police Force globally.
“I urge the Police Force in Kano to be professional and avoid being identified as deeply partisan in the affairs of Kano State and in other parts of the country.
“For the umpteenth time, I also urge the Federal Government to avoid dragging itself into unpleasant situations by further putting its hands in affairs that are strictly under the jurisdiction of the good people of Kano State and its Government
The Federal Government has commenced the selection process for a new Accountant General of the Federation and is also working to fill vacancies for permanent secretaries within the Federal Civil Service.
A memo dated 24 January 2025 from the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Career Management Office, Fatima Mahmoud, outlined the timeline for the process.
The memo was sent to the Offices of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Chief of Staff to the President, ministers, and heads of ministries, departments, and agencies.
Naija News recalls that in December 2024, President Bola Tinubu appointed Babatunde Ogunjimi as acting Accountant General following the commencement of pre-retirement leave by the then-AGF, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein.
The appointment was announced in a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
However, Dr Madein’s tenure was subsequently extended until 7 March 2025 by a directive from the Head of Service, allowing her to return to her duties.
This decision led to the reassignment of Ogunjimi, who was redeployed to the Public Service Institute of Nigeria as Director of Accounts.
Spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General, Bawa Mokwa, clarified that civil service regulations permit terminal leave to be optional.
He noted that Dr Madein’s reinstatement raised questions within the treasury department regarding its impact on Ogunjimi’s acting appointment.
Recruitment Process for Accountant General
The memo from the Head of Service detailed the accreditation process for candidates, set to begin on 28 January and end on 1 February 2025.
It also outlined the examination schedule for eligible candidates:
– Stage 1: Written Examination for eligible Candidates from North-West Zone and Oyo State on Monday, February 10, 2025.
– Stage 2: Written Examination for eligible Candidates/Directors (Accounts) in the Pool of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation on February 11, 2025.
– Subsequent Stages: Computer-based tests scheduled for 12 and 13 February 2025.
– Final Stage: Oral interviews to take place on 14 February 2025
2025 Budget: Universities Forced To Pay ₦8 Million Each To Lawmakers In Alleged Bribery Scheme
AFOLABI
A report has claimed that some lawmakers in the National Assembly have set up a bribery scheme targeting federal universities and other tertiary institutions in the country.
According to the report by Premium Times, lawmakers are using intimidation and threats to force the heads of universities to pay ₦8 million each to approve their allocations in the 2025 budgets.
The extortion scheme allegedly involves senators and members of the House of Representatives.
The lawmakers, operating through the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund and the House Committee on University Education, are demanding money from universities to approve their budgets.
Using an elaborate and complex system created by the lawmakers, 60 federal university vice chancellors are required to pay ₦8 million each (₦4 million each to Senate and House Committees).
The lawmakers are expecting ₦480 million from the extortion, and they have assigned two vice chancellors from the North Central and North West geopolitical zones to coordinate the payments to avoid detection.
It was gathered that the House Committee, chaired by Hassan Fulata (APC, Jigawa), set the extortion scheme in motion on 16 January during a meeting with some vice chancellors. At the meeting, the VCs were given clear and firm instructions about what was expected of them.
Initially scheduled for 10 a.m. that day, the meeting was delayed until 3 p.m. due to behind-the-scenes discussions between lawmakers and some vice chancellors.
Speaking anonymously to the aforementioned publication, one of the vice chancellors said the lawmakers were explicit in their demands.
The source revealed that the lawmakers criticised the vice chancellors for not cooperating, unlike other institutions that comply without resistance.
At one point, the tone of the meeting became more threatening. Sources at the meeting said the committee members “cajoled, threatened, and even humiliated” some vice chancellors.
“They threatened us with probes if we failed to play ball with them.
“Most other agencies are not grumbling like the VCs”, one attendee told the publication.
The majority of the vice chancellors reportedly grumbled and complained about the lawmakers’ demands, expressing frustration over the repeated extortion.
However, the more they complained, the more aggressive the lawmakers became, escalating their threats of probes
32-year-old murder suspect, Timileyin Ajayi, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his girlfriend, Salome Adaidu.
Naija News reports that the suspect was arraigned on Monday at the High Court of Justice in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.
He was charged with one count of culpable homicide punishable by death, contrary to Section 221 of the Penal Code of Northern Nigeria.
However, upon his arraignment before Justice Simon Aboki, the suspect pleaded not guilty to the allegation.
Meanwhile, Timileyin Ajayi has stated that he feels no regret in killing his alleged girlfriend, Salome.
Recall the suspect was apprehended for the alleged murder of a 24-year-old member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), serving at Nicon Insurance in the Nation’s capital, Abuja.
Adaidu was murdered when she visited the suspect at his house in the Papalana axis at New Karshi in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.
The suspect was nabbed Sunday, January 12, while trying to dispose of the head of the deceased after killing her and dismembering her body parts when she visited him at his house.
Speaking to Channels Television, Ajayi stated that he did not plan to kill Adaidu, but that he carried out the act because they do not have time for each other
Media personality, Toke Makinwa has reacted to the alleged spilt between Afrobeats veteran, Innocent idibia, popularly known as 2baba, and his wife of 12 years, Anne Idibia.
Recall that the singer had announced the separation in an Instagram post on Sunday.
He wrote, “Hello my beautiful people of all federation. Well this thing I have to say short but also long… I and Annie Macauley have been separated for a while now, and currently filed for divorce.
“I would grant a press release soon to say my story. Not because it is anyone’s right to know about my personal life, but because I love my people and I want them to know my innocence or offense. Stay bless my people.”
Reacting to 2baba’s post, Makinwa slammed the singer for taking to social media to announce his separation and imminent divorce from his wife.
While reacting to a video 2face posted confirming his separation, Toke wrote, “This is wrong on all levels and you should be ashamed of yourself for bringing this here. Bring it on, if you think she’s alone let me tell you here that you’ll have to f!ght all of us.”
She called on other women to stand up in defence for Annie.
A nationwide protest is currently brewing in Nigeria following the recent approval by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, for telecommunication operators to increase tariff by 50%.
DAILY POST reports that following the mounting financial struggles birthed by the devaluation of the naira and increasing operational costs in Africa’s most populous nation, telecom operators like MTN and Airtel had demanded a 100% tariff increase.
However, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, on Monday, January 20 announced the approval of a 50% tariff increase.
By the time the Mobil Network Operators implement the approved tariff, Nigerians are expected to pay N16.5 per minute for calls from N11, the cost of SMS to N6 from N4, and the cost of 1 gigabit of data – N431.25.
There are, however, stiff oppositions from some stakeholders, who argued that the increment is coming at the wrong time, citing the economic hardship bedeviling the nation at the moment.
Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC had, while reacting to the proposed tariff increase, rallied Nigerians to reject “another harsh burden”, threatening to mobilize workers to boycott telecom services.
Similarly, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC described the tariff scheduled to begin in February as outrageous, lamenting that it will worsen the harsh living conditions of workers and Nigerians.
Halt the tariff hike now – Yunusa Tanko tells FG
In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Saturday, the National Coordinator, OBIDIENT Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko urged the Federal Government to halt the tariff increase, saying it is a “wrong timing, wrong action and wrong choice”.
According to him, a “50% tariff increase by the NCC at this time is only a final burial to the already struggling economy.
“All sectors of the economy need adequate communication to keep up with their game; the outturn will be spontaneous”.
Yunusa lamented that there “was an influx of 14 million Nigerians into poverty in one year, caused by uninformed government policies and poor economic decisions”, stressing that the country has “never experienced this height of surge since her independence”.
He appealed to the NCC and the Communications and Digital Economy Ministry to “thread cautiously and wisely, get the data right, opt for accurate information, do their analysis objectively, consider the post and aftermath of such actions, and always put the interest of the Nigerian people first.
“Have we thought about what would happen to the SMEs, SMSE, etc? Communication is the life wire of any nation.
“We are yet to recover from the inflation surge affecting basically all foodstuffs and household items, high cost of transportation and other internal disruptions caused by the fuel subsidy removal and other government policies.
“In a nutshell, a 50% tariff hike is a no no no for me; wrong timing; wrong action; wrong choice: and probably wrong outcome.
“The NCC should adopt an immediate reversal of the hike, substantially plan for it, and if there is any need for implementation after a period of time, not 50%. 15% will do”.
Nigerians plan nationwide protest
Irked by the development, DAILY POST gathered on Saturday that a cross section of Nigerians are currently planning to stage protests across the nation to compel the government agency to reverse its decision.
Popular Nigerian activist and politician, Omoyele Sowore told DAILY POST on Saturday that discussions on the nationwide protest are underway.
In a chat with our correspondent, Sowore, who described the tariff increase as unjust, said he recently met with the leadership of the NLC to harmonize plans for nationwide actions to reverse the decision.
“I met with the NLC leadership yesterday to discuss possible nationwide action against this unjust and backbreaking tarring increase.
“Yes, I will support any form of credible protest”, he said.
Another activist, Comrade Timothy Onyilo said the tariff increase would discourage students from research in higher institutions.
According to him, “the only language the government understands is protest and they are going to have it.
“Did they really consider students before coming up with this decision or they just feel like everybody is the same?
“We are already pained that students are suffering due to the high cost of living and you still want to add to their problems.
“Every student needs the internet for academic research. I am doing my MSc in the Abuja university here.
“We spend a lot of data doing research. Things are already hard and some people are still making it harder.
“Instead of them finding a way to improve the services, they are only interested in taking money from us.
“Sometimes, MTN, Glo and even Airtel will frustrate your life as if they are giving you service for free, yet nobody is talking about that”.
DAILY POST recalls that the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, had issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to reverse the decision or face nationwide protests.
The association in a statement on Wednesday noted that affordable internet access was crucial for bridging the educational gap in Nigeria and warned that the tariff hike would further exclude millions of students from accessing quality education, deepening the digital divide.
Meanwhile, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, had mandated the telecommunication industry to prioritize service improvement including network reliability, speed and accessibility, in the planned tariff adjustments.
In a recent statement by its Director, Corporate Affairs, Ondanje Ijagwu, FCCPC said although it acknowledged the economic pressures faced by telecom operators in the country, including increasing operational costs, “consumer interests remain paramount”
A resident of Delta State, Mrs. Gladys Ubogu Okeoghene, has petitioned the Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG), Zone 5 Police Headquarters, Benin, seeking justice over alleged exploitation by policemen.
According to Mrs. Okeoghene, her family’s two cars, a GLK 350 and a C400, were stolen in 2022 after being handed over to a mechanic, Mr. Solomon David Orshieda, for repairs.
Orshieda allegedly sold the cars and fled to Kenya.
When Mrs. Okeoghene contacted the Nigeria Police Force (Area Command) in October 2024, she was allegedly directed to pay a total of N2,186,000 for the recovery of the vehicles.
The payment included costs for “office movement” and “tracking.”
However, she alleged that despite paying the requested amount, the police refused to release one of the recovered vehicles, the C400, and instead demanded additional payment.
Furthermore, Mrs. Okeoghene said she was not informed nor consulted when the police granted bail to the suspects, including Orshieda.
She lamented that the IPO handling the case had been intimidating and threatening her, and that her recovered vehicle remained seized by the police.
Mrs. Okeoghene is now seeking justice and calling for an investigation into the allegations.
She called the attention of the International Human Rights Commission, IHRC, and the US Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, Nigeria Office.
In a swift reaction, Delta State Police Command, led by CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, while speaking through the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Bright denied the allegations.
SP Edafe explained that, “We arrested everybody involved and recovered one of the vehicles, only for the main suspect to appear with proof that he bought both vehicles from the woman’s son and the son even sent him the original customs papers.
“When she found out that her son sold the vehicles, she ran away with her son from the police station and started making wrong petitions up and down.”
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Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, has said that President Bola Tinubu needs to travel more.
The Minister said the President does not travel as much as he should, as he needs to interact with Presidents of other nations.
Some Nigerians are agitated that the President is traveling from country to country, wasting taxpayer money all in the name of luring investors to Nigeria.
As at May 2024, the president had spent about 96 days abroad from the day he was sworn in, visiting some countries more than once.
DAILY POST reports that Tinubu has visited France, United Kingdom, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Benin Republic, India, United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Ethiopia, Senegal, Qatar, The Netherlands.
Speaking to Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the Minister said that the President does not even travel enough.
“This administration is still new. He was sworn-in in 2023. In global terms he is still a new President. He needs to interact with his colleagues, fellow heads of state to be able to establish relationships and you can see the fruits of these trips. Look at the benefits.
“You travel once and you get $2bn of investment like he did in Brazil…in fact, we are not travelling enough. I should suggest that we should do more.
“Nigeria has the money. How much does travelling cost compared to the benefits. And how much does it cost when you’re comparing it to the things that the President has already addressed.
“How much were we wasting on fuel subsidy, electricity subsidy and all those subsidies?” The Minister queried
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, has claimed that Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State is using criticism of President Bola Tinubu over tax reforms to launch his 2027 presidential ambition.
The Minister made this allegation when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme on Sunday.
According to him, the Bauchi State governor showed that he does not have sincerity of purpose in his criticism of President Tinubu.
“Governor Bala Mohammed showed clearly that he does not have any sincerity of purpose,” Tugar said on the programme.
“It is not that other governors did not try to interrogate the tax bill when it was presented which is a good thing as a matter of fact so that Nigerians get the best out of the bill, but what Bala Mohammed proceeded to do was to use it as a platform to launch his presidential campaign very early in the day.
“He was the most severe in his invectives towards the president, towards the administration with his vituperations towards the president and the administration.”
The Minister said Governor Mohammed has been trying to secure an audience with Tinubu following his criticism of the president on the tax reform bills.
READ ALSO: Tax Reforms: Tinubu Calling For Anarchy, Says Gov Bala Mohammed
The Bauchi State governor had while addressing a Christian community on Boxing Day in Bauchi, urged President Tinubu to backtrack on the tax policy reforms as it could lead to anarchy.
According to him, the policy does not in any way favour the North, adding that the governors would not be able to pay salaries.
He warned that if these policies continued, the northern region would “show its true colours” in response.
However, the Presidency responded to the governor and condemned what it described as threat to the president. It said Mohammed’s view does not reflect the view of the entire north.
Meanwhile, Nigerian governors, on January 16, declared support for the Federal Government’s tax reform bills. However, they proposed a new sharing formula for value-added tax (VAT).
The decision followed a meeting of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) and the Presidential Tax Reform Committee.
In a communique at the end of the meeting, the governors’ forum “reiterated its strong support for the comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s archaic tax laws.
A lawmaker in the 7th National Assembly, Senator Ita Enang, has said that with the “low” amounts allocated to critical sectors of the economy, President Bola Tinubu might not have any substantial projects to justify his reelection in the 2027 electioneering process.
“I have read the budget and have gone through almost all the sectors. It is not reflective and it is incapable of giving Mr President projects to commission which he can be proud of in 2026,” Enang said on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.
On December 18, 2024, Tinubu presented the 2025 ₦49.7tn budget proposal before a joint session of the National Assembly for approval. The lawmakers are to resume on February 4, 2025, after the ongoing defense of the proposed budget by ministries, departments, and agencies.
Enang, who served as Senior Special Assistant to then-President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, faulted what he described as low revenue allocation, low revenue generation, and low revenue mobilisation in the 2025 proposed budget.
The chieftain of the president’s party, the ruling All Progressives Congress, said the 2025 Appropriation Bill if passed by the legislature and signed into law by the president without major adjustments, can’t deliver sectoral fulfillment. He said if passed the way it is, it will become a problem for Tinubu’s reelection.
“The way it is, what we are having and defending at the National Assembly, if it is passed like that, it will give them a question to answer in the field of campaigns in 2026, 2027.
“I am saying that because of the minute allocations given to certain projects in certain ministries, they may not have much to show. Given the way some of the projects which they may need to exit or abandon due to low allocation, they may not be able to commission those projects,” he said.
He cited the Calabar-Ikot Ekpene, Lagos-Ibadan, Abuja-Lokoja-Benin, Abuja-Kaduna, and other highway projects, saying the monies allocated for the projects are not substantial enough to get them completed within the budget cycle or calendar.
“By the end of 2025, Mr president is supposed to go commission those projects but what will he commission (if they are uncompleted)?
“In most areas that we should show during the campaigns, we may not have what to show if we have this level of budgeting. That is why I am saying that Mr president’s team should go sectorally before they pass the budget and identify the presidential priorities,” he said.
Enang said the president and his economic team should be strategic and give priorities to milestone projects in their budgetary allocations, as well as give deadlines and tentative commissioning dates for such projects.
The lawyer urged the president and his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, to take up the budget which is still being worked on in the National Assembly, and “look at each of the ministries and say, ‘Look, this is what we want to deliver in solid minerals, this is what we want to deliver in works, these are two or three things we want to commission in each state, in each region. This is what we want to attain in railway. This is what we want to attain in water resources. This is what we want to report in agriculture. This is the milestone we want to record in education and then work towards that’.”
“If we don’t do this, the president and the APC will be relying on the projects of states and governors to justify what they have done for APC to go for the next election,” the lawyer said.
Last December, the National Assembly extended the implementation of the 2024 N28.7tn Budget by six months, saying it has achieved a 50% performance rate in capital expenditure and 48% in recurrent expenditure.
Nigeria is said to be running multiple appropriation and supplementary budgets concurrently, according to a civic and accountability group BudgIT.
Details of how six top Yoruba monarchs prevailed upon nonagenarian legal luminary Afe Babalola to drop his criminal defamation suit against human rights activist and lawyer Dele Farotimi have emerged.
It was gathered that the Ooni of Ife, Enitan Ogunwusi, mobilised five other high-class traditional rulers to the Ado-Ekiti residence of Babalola on Sunday night.
The high-powered delegation includes the Ewi of Ado, Oba Rufus Adejugbe Aladesanmi III; Ajero of Ijero, Oba Adewole Joseph Adebayo; the Ogoga of Ikere, Oba Samuel Adejinmi Adu; Alaaye of Efon Alaaye, Oba Dr. Emmanuel Aladejare Agunsoye II; and the Olojudo of Ido Ekiti who doubles as Chairman, Ekiti Council Of Traditional Rulers, Oba Ilori Faboro.
The Ooni of Ife, along with prominent traditional rulers, arrived in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, minutes past 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Earlier in December, the police in Ekiti State arrested Farotimi at his Lagos office and bundled him to Ekiti State for prosecution.
The police arraigned the author for publishing a book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’ where he alleged that nonagenarian legal icon Afe Babalola corrupted the judiciary and procured a revised judgment in the Supreme Court.
The defendant pleaded not guilty to all the charges which bordered on criminal defamation levelled against him and was remanded in prison for three weeks before he was granted bail.
Upon their arrival at Babalola’s residence on Sunday night, the Ooni of Ife and the five top monarchs asked the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD), to forgive Farotimi and withdraw the criminal defamation suit instituted against him.
Members of the legal team of Babalola handling Farotimi’s criminal case were also present at the meeting, according to a spokesman for the Ooni of Ife, Moses Olafare.
During the closed-door meeting which ended at past midnight, Babalola said he had gotten entreaties from former president Olusegun Obasanjo, Bishop Matthew Kukah and a host of other prominent Nigerians asking that he withdraw the case, but he did not.
However, the Ooni of Ife and the other monarchs persuaded the nonagenarian to withdraw the charges as an elder statesman with vast experience.
“Aare Afe Babalola, you are an elder statesman, you have seen it all, you are one of the iconic voices in this country, a great man per excellence, you are a rare breed who has excelled in everything you have touched in this life, a very God-fearing elder stateman, above all, you are one of the proponents of the Yoruba ethos of Omoluwabi which has been your strongest value that you hold in our country,” the Ooni told Babalola, according to Olafare.
“We’ve all come together as traditional Rulers to discuss with you on this issue and this gentleman Dele Farotimi is your son and you must forgive him and withdraw the criminal charges against him. As a father, you have soft sons and you have tough sons, Dele Farotimi is a tough son of yours. You have indeed made a point that your name can not be messed with.”
When asked to speak, Babalola accepted the request saying he grew up as a child to understand such interventions by the traditional rulers. He declared he had not only forgiven Farotimi but he would also instruct his lawyers to withdraw the criminal charges against him immediately.
“Today is an important day for me, I’m a Yoruba man and I’m very proud to be one. Ewi of Ado has come here to meet me on this matter, former president Obasanjo has intervened, same with Bishop Matthew Kukah and a host of other prominent Nigerians to ask for the exact thing you have come to ask for this evening., my answer to them has been ‘no’ but today my answer is ‘yes’.
“Your coming is unquantifiable in terms of money, who Am I? When the colonialists came here in the 17th century or thereabouts, they found as a fact that Yoruba land was a highly organised society with an advanced system of government with each town headed by an Oba who was regarded as a replica of God on earth. His words were commands.”
‘I Didn’t Win Cases Through Corruption’
Babalola said he has refused government appointments and rejected some so-called rewards because he doesn’t want anything to stain his integrity.
He said, “I was a lawyer who defended the EFCC law, yes I’m corrupt, I was given an oil block. When I looked at the money and saw that it was too much, I rejected it, yes I’m corrupt. I was offered ministerial appointments twice, I rejected it. Yes, I’m corrupt because whatever I am, I don’t want anybody to say I made it through corruption.
“Look at my books, I’m Chairman, Transparency International based in Germany, I have given lectures against corruption with my papers in many universities globally.
“For someone to allege that I have won my cases through corruption, it’s an attempt to defame me. That was why I rejected all appeals earlier made to me. But when I heard that Ooni was coming, I knew I was in a fix today.
“There is nothing I’m going to gain from his (Dele) imprisonment and there’s nothing I want from the so-called damages. I am not in quest of more wealth, I’m rather concerned about managing the one I have already. Dele Farotimi is hereby forgiven. On this occasion, I say ‘yes’.”