The activist, Dele Farotimi, has declared that he would not comment on the decision of Afe Babalola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to end the criminal defamation and cybercrimes cases against him.
Penpushing reports that the 57-year-old lawyer since the news of the forgiveness came to the public on Monday, has kept mute and has not talked about it on his social media handles or YouTube page, where his known to be providing updates about the case Babalola instituted against him.
“The good hunting dog is never distracted by the rustling of squirrels in the underbrush. I have no comment on the news’, the lawyer and activist was quoted saying when approached
Penpushing further reports that it is recalled that at a meeting held between traditional rulers led by Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi and the Babalola on Sunday at Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, he(Babalola) granted Farotimi unconditional forgiveness.
The activist, however, was not present at the meeting but the traditional rulers pleaded on his behalf, and since the pronouncement of the forgiveness he kept sealed lip, while his only Facebook post since the development is a cryptic message shared on Tuesday, offering no clear indication of the possible real-life situation he was referring to.
Penpushing also reports that Farotimi’s personal assistant, Feyisayo Olatunde earlier confirmed his principal’s stance when reaching him through telephone was proving difficult, stating that he (Farotimi) has no plans of holding a press conference on the subject and currently not available for interviews.
The lawyer it is recalled was charged to court by the police after Babalola, petitioned the police, accusing Farotimi of defaming him in his book, ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’, and cited in his petition 31 excerpts from the book, which he alleged defamed him.
Penpushing reports that the nonagenarian in addition to the criminal cases, two lawyers from his firm, Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Ola Faro have sued Farotimi for N500 million and N600 million, respectively, while the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court also ordered the seizure of physical copies of the book across the globe.
The police subsequently, arrested and charged him with 16 counts of criminal defamation, leading to his arraignment before the Chief Magistrate’s Court in Ado Ekiti, and in addition, he faced 12 counts of cybercrimes at the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti.
Penpushing reports that Farotimi pleaded not guilty to all charges in both courts, was remanded in prison in Ado-Ekiti following his arraignment, but later granted bail in December 2024, while it is on record that in the Amazon best-seller book, Farotimi accuses Babalola, the founder of the Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti, of corrupting Nigeria’s Supreme Court in service of his clients.
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