Dele Farotimi challenges Oyo State High Court Jurisdiction in his ongoing criminal defamation trial.
The embattled human rights activist Dele Farotimi has openly challenged the Oyo State High Court and its jurisdiction over his trial for the alleged defamation charges brought by Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN), Afe Babalola’s law partner.
There has been a chain of legal battles between Farotimi and the Afe Babalola law firm, including Adenipekun, a managing partner at Afe Babalola & Co., who filed a lawsuit against him at the Oyo State High Court.
All of these started when Farotimi’s book raised allegations against Afe Babalola, which caused many controversies in the past two months.
Farotimi raised the objection through his legal team in a Notice of Preliminary Objection dated January 6, 2025, brought before the Oyo State High Court pursuant to sections 96 and 97 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, Cap. S6, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The preliminary objection was sequel to a suit filed at the Oyo State High Court No. 4 against Farotimi by Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN) with Dele Farotimi and Dele Farotimi Publishers listed as 1st and 2nd respondents.
The notice of preliminary objection filed by Adeyinka Olumide Fusika (SAN) and Prof. O. F. Emiri (SAN), reads, “Take Notice that the 1st Defendant shall at the next adjourned date in this matter (being the 7th Day of January 2025) or so soon thereafter as the business of the Honourable Court may permit be heard for an order setting aside the purported service of the Writ of Summons dated the 9th of December 2024 and all the accompanying processes on the 1 Defendant on the grounds stated below.”
On the grounds of the application, Farotimi’s legal team said, “The Writ of Summons dated 9th December 2024 issued from this Honourable Court was endorsed and authorised for service out of Oyo State and in Lagos State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“In breach of said authorisation the said Writ of Summons was purportedly effected on the 1st Defendant at Ado-Ekiti Correctional Centre in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria wherein the Claimant and his boss, Chief Afe Babalola, SAN, had procured the 1st Defendant to be locked up after unlawful abduction from his Lagos State abode under the colour and cover of a questionable criminal process long-before and at the time of the issuance of said writ with endorsement for service in Lagos State.
“The purported service of said Writ of Summons on the 1st Defendant was contrary to the terms of its issuance and service within the stipulations and requirements of Sections 96 and 97 of the Sheriffs and Civil Process Act, Cap. S6, Laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“In the premise, this Honourable Court lacks jurisdiction to proceed in the suit against the 1st Defendant.”
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