Activist and lawyer Dele Farotimi has stated that his legal battle is far from over, despite the withdrawal of criminal charges against him.
Speaking on The Duke Rants podcast on Saturday, Farotimi addressed his ongoing legal troubles, saying he is still weighing his options over his 21-day incarceration and the lawsuits he continues to face.
When asked what he would say if he met Chief Afe Babalola, who had earlier petitioned him for defamation, Farotimi responded, “Like a good Yoruba boy, I’ll give him his salutations. But it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still considering my options regarding what I went through.”
Farotimi recounted the irregularities surrounding his arrest, stating that law enforcement officials violated legal procedures. “Policemen crossed five state lines, entered a sixth state—from Ekiti to Ondo, to Osun, to Oyo, to Ogun, and then into Lagos. Somebody has to explain the basis of my incarceration for 21 days,” he said.
Earlier in February, he revealed that, despite Babalola withdrawing his petition, he still faces four separate lawsuits filed by members of Babalola’s law office in different states.
“My inability to speak on certain aspects of this issue is because, despite the discontinuation of the criminal case, I still have four suits that I am aware of, in four different states, filed by members of the same law office against me,” he stated.
Farotimi’s legal troubles began after Babalola accused him of defamation in his book Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System. He was subsequently arrested and 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 following interventions by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and other traditional rulers. However, Farotimi insists that his legal battle is ongoing.
Defending his book, Farotimi emphasized that it was based on research and personal experience rather than falsehoods. “I did not sit down in a beer parlour; I was not gossiping. I wrote a book,” he declared. “Let us deal with veracity. Anybody can go and read it and then challenge me on any falsehood.”
He maintained that the case was not about his personal reputation but about the integrity of 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 we have built as a collective,” he asserted.
Farotimi also stressed that his book was not an attack on Babalola but 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 him or tarnish his image. Nothing personal. I was writing about the judiciary as an institution.”
