A book written by activist lawyer Dele Farotimi has caused a stir in the legal community, drawing sharp criticism from legal heavyweight Afe Babalola, founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti (ABUAD).
The book, titled Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, provides an unvarnished critique of Nigeria’s judicial system, including serious allegations against Babalola.
In the book, Farotimi accuses Babalola, a prominent figure in Nigeria’s legal profession, of corrupting the Supreme Court to secure a fraudulent judgment for his clients. The book, which details specific incidents and names individuals, has been described as one of the most direct criticisms of corruption in Nigeria’s judiciary.
Babalola has strongly denied these accusations, petitioning the Ekiti State Police Command, which led to a police raid on Farotimi’s office in Lekki, Lagos, on December 3. Farotimi was later detained in Ado Ekiti, where he faced criminal defamation charges.
The Foreword of Farotimi’s book lays out several allegations, including the following points, “That Aare Afe Babalola corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgment in the service of his clients.
“That the law firm of S, B. Joseph & Co. procured a warrant to execute the said judgment by doctoring the original judgment of the Supreme Court. “
.“That Atilade O, Justice at the time and the Administrative Judge of the Lagos Judicial Division, unlawfully issued a warrant of execution based on the doctored judgment and without the enrolled order of the Supreme Court.“
“That Atilade, J (Justice Atilade) quashed the fraudulently obtained warrant following an application of counsel in protest against same.“
” That Aare Afe Babalola, Olu Daramola, Olu Faro, and the law offices of Afe Babalola & Co, (Emmanuel Chambers) compromised the Supreme Court and the remaining semblance of integrity it might have had, when they went back to the Supreme Court and got that court to swim in the sewer of corruption and shameful self-abnegation.“
“That Lawal Pedro SAN, at the material time the Solicitor-General of Lagos State, corrupted himself, abandoned the interests of the State, its citizens, and any pretense to decency and became the undisclosed attorney to the Eletu family thus betraying the public trust.“
“That Afe Babalola libelled me and the fact of the libel became known to me in his suit against Lawal Pedro SAN.“That I sued Afe Babalola SAN for libel and that he leveraged his influence in the judiciary to deny me justice.“
“That Oyekan-Abdullai, J was the instrument of injustice employed to deny me my day in court.“That the Nigerian Justice System is criminal and complicit and can therefore not uphold the tenets of true justice nor the dispense thereof to which it is sworn.“
Farotimi also elaborates on these accusations in other parts of the book, alleging that Babalola, along with several justices of the Supreme Court, corrupted the integrity of the court. He wrote on pages 10-11:
“I have always been familiar with the fact of our perversion as a people and I have few illusions about equity and justice reigning in Nigeria but I had always assumed that there were lines that should never be crossed. I was however slapped awake by the brazenness of the judicial brigandage unleashed on hapless citizens, corporate, and individuals by the Nigerian Supreme Court, acting under the direction of Aare Afe Babalola. At least five Justices of the apex court have been identified as guilty of odious corruption and or gross incompetence.”
On page 59, Farotimi writes about a judge allegedly working in collaboration with Babalola:
“But even as Atilade J played the contrition game, she was already part of the game plan corruption in Nigeria being stitched together by the grandmaster of judicial corruption in Nigeria, Afe Babalola. I have come to the conclusion that the required form of the application and her ruling were all part of the insidious plans of Afe Babalola, his band of crooked lawyers and coterie of crooked/incompetent justices of the Supreme Court.”
He further elaborates on the extent of the alleged corruption within the Supreme Court on pages 66-71:
“But apparently, we had underestimated the extent of the putrefaction of the Supreme Court and the extent of Chief Afe Babalola’s corrupt reaches into the innards of the Supreme Court.”
“But the court as though enthralled by whatever Afe the Circus Master had Promised the Justices, acted with utmost carelessness about the integrity of the court, the interest of the citizens and the State that they had been sworn to protect. The conspiracy was always a step ahead of us because some of the clients mistook key members of the confederacy of friends and helpers.”
“But Afe knew that he could get the Supreme Court to do whatever he wanted and to rule however he asked. Pedro knew this too and he being the original Lagos boy, showed Afe a bit of Lagos magic. Afe Babalola and the Eletus might have killed the buffalo but had no way from feeding from the carcass. We have turned the corrupt triumph at the Supreme Court into a pyrrhic victory and it was at this point that Pedro craftily inserted himself into the plot.”
In response, Babalola denied all of Farotimi’s claims, accusing him of attempting to destroy his reputation. Babalola has called for an investigation into the matter, stating that the book has caused public outrage and damaged his law firm’s image. He stated:
“All these statements are false and incorrect written deliberately to destroy my reputation,” in his petition to the police, which was dated November 9.
Farotimi, however, remains defiant, standing by the truthfulness of his book. In a post on X, he stated:
“I wrote the truth, and I stand by every single word in that book.”
Despite facing criminal charges, Farotimi insists that his right to free speech should be upheld and that those offended by his book have the option of seeking legal redress.
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