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I Am Still Battling Four Lawsuits From Afe Babalola’s Firm – Farotimi

Farotimi still faces four lawsuits from Afe Babalola’s law office.
Insists his book is well-researched and not an attack on individuals.
Calls for judicial reform, saying he is being sued for speaking the truth.

Activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has revealed that he is still battling four separate lawsuits across different states, all filed by members of the Aare Afe Babalola law office.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that Farotimi made this disclosure on Sunday while speaking during the Toyin Falola Interviews, despite an earlier withdrawal of criminal charges against him by legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola (SAN).

On January 27, Babalola, founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, agreed to withdraw the defamation cases filed against Farotimi over his book, Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System. The police had earlier arrested and arraigned the activist lawyer following Babalola’s petition, accusing him of defamation. He was tried at an Ekiti State Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti and also faced charges of alleged cyber-bullying before the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti.

Babalola later announced the withdrawal of the cases, citing interventions by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other top traditional rulers. However, during the Sunday interview themed Politics, Law and Society, Farotimi clarified that while the criminal proceedings had been discontinued, he still faced four civil suits filed by members of Babalola’s firm.

“My inability to speak on certain aspects of this issue is due to the fact that, despite the discontinuation of the criminal proceedings, I am still facing four lawsuits in different states, all instituted by members of the same law office,” he stated.

Farotimi insisted that his book was not a product of idle gossip but a thoroughly researched critique of Nigeria’s judicial system.

“I did not sit down in a beer parlour or an officers’ mess to gossip. I wrote a book. Let us address its veracity. Anyone can read it and challenge me with any falsehood they find,” he asserted.

Dismissing claims that the controversy surrounding his book was a personal feud, he maintained that the real issue at stake was the integrity of Nigeria’s legal system.

“This is not a trial of Dele Farotimi. Let nobody make that mistake. It is a trial of the legal system that we have built as a collective,” he stated.

Farotimi reiterated that his book was not an attack on Chief Afe Babalola but rather a critique of systemic corruption within the judiciary.

“Chief Afe Babalola is old enough to be my father. I did not set out to destroy him or tarnish his image. It’s nothing personal. I was addressing the institution of the judiciary,” he explained.

He emphasized that his critique focused on institutional failings rather than individuals.

“Many names and offices were mentioned in the book. I did not set out to libel anyone. I simply documented the truth of what I have seen. Perhaps we have become so accustomed to lies and allergic to truth that speaking the truth is now a crime,” he said.

Farotimi urged Nigerians to engage with uncomfortable truths to foster meaningful reform.

“We have built a system that rewards deception and punishes truth. I am being sued not because I have lied, but because I have dared to speak the truth,” he added.

He also criticized those who dismissed his book without reading it, labeling their actions as intellectually lazy.

“Ninety per cent of those criticizing my book have not read it. If Nigerians would stop being so philistinic and illiterate, and actually read, there would be no argument over the facts I presented,” he stated.