Dele Farotimi, lawyer and human rights activist, might soon be stepping out of the Ado Ekiti Prison, where has been detained since Wednesday last week on the orders of Abayomi Adeosun, the Presiding Magistrate, at the Chief Magistrate Court in Ado Ekiti, a day before the scheduled date for the verdict on his bail application.
Details are still sketchy, but reports suggest that the lawyer, who was arrested in his office on Tuesday last week and taken to Ekiti State to face criminal defamation charges against Afe Babolola (SAN) foremost lawyer and educationist, was granted bail by a magistrate court in Ekiti, a day earlier than the December 10 date the court had set to determine on his bail application.
Very little is known about how the sudden turn of events, in the matter which has seized much of the public space since the development in the defamation case, over a book titled: Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System, in which he alleged that the legal luminary corrupted the Supreme Court to procure a fraudulent judgement in the service of his clients – a publication that took the first position as Best Seller on Amazon, hours after his arrest and remand.
The twist in the story was broken by Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), who also broke that of his arrest, using the same X platform he employed last week to announce the latest development on Monday, where Farotimi, was reportedly granted N50m bail with a surety in the same amount, who must provide landed property as collateral. The case has been adjourned to 29 January 2025.
Sowore, himself a popular activist, friend and ally of Farotimi, leader of the Obidient Movement, and spokesman of Peter Obi, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election, wrote: “The first hurdle was crossed. #DeleFarotimi was granted bail of N50 million surety in the like sum with someone with landed property. The case was adjourned to January 29, 2025.”
– Whirlwindnews