I respect Afe Babalola, but my Legal Battle Isn’t Over — Farotimi

Activist and lawyer, Dele Farotimi, has stated that despite the withdrawal of criminal charges against him, he is still weighing his options over his 21-day incarceration and legal battles.

Speaking on The Duke Rants podcast published to YouTube on Saturday, Farotimi was asked what he would say if he met Chief Afe Babalola today.

He said, “Like a good Yoruba boy, I’ll give him his salutations. It doesn’t change the fact that I’m still considering my options as regards what to do about what I went through.”

Pressed on what options he was considering, he replied, “Oh, all the areas of options that are open to a person who was unlawfully kidnapped from his office, hauled before a magistrate for a non-existent crime.”

Farotimi recounted the irregularities surrounding his arrest, stating that law enforcement officials violated standard legal procedures.

“Policemen crossed five state lines, entered a sixth state — from Ekiti to Ondo, to Osun, to Oyo, to Ogun, and then crossed into Lagos. Somebody has to explain the basis of my incarceration for 21 days,” he said.

Earlier in February, Farotimi disclosed that, despite Afe Babalola withdrawing his petition against him, he still faces four separate lawsuits filed by members of Babalola’s law office across different states.

“My inability to speak to certain aspects of this issue is borne out of the fact that, despite the discontinuation of the criminal proceeding, I still have four suits that I am aware of, in four different states of the federation, filed by members of the same law office, against my person,” he stated.

His legal troubles began after Babalola petitioned the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, alleging that Farotimi defamed him in his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.

Following his arrest, he was arraigned before an Ekiti State Magistrate Court for alleged criminal defamation and before the Federal High Court in Ado Ekiti for alleged cyber-bullying.

On January 27, Babalola announced his withdrawal of the cases after interventions by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other traditional rulers. However, Farotimi’s legal challenges are far from over.

Farotimi strongly defended his book, insisting that it was based on research and personal experience rather than falsehoods.

“I did not sit down in a beer parlour; I was not at an officers’ mess; I was not gossiping. It was not idle, cheap talk. I wrote a book,” he declared.

“Let us deal with veracity. Anybody can go and read and then come back and challenge me with the lie that I have told.”

He dismissed claims that the controversy was about his personal reputation, stating that the real issue at stake was Nigeria’s legal system.

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

Farotimi also emphasised that his book was not intended as a personal attack on Babalola or any individual but was a critique of systemic corruption within the judiciary.

“Chief Afe Babalola is more than old enough to be my father,” he said.

“I did not set out to destroy the man or to tarnish his image. Nothing personal. I was writing about the institution of the judiciary.”