Sowore Reacts As Peter Obi Visits Afe Babalola to Seek Pardon for Farotimi: “Colossal Injustice”

• On December 9, 2024, the Ekiti State Magistrate Court granted Dele Farotimi a N50 million bail in the defamation case filed by Afe Babalola
• In a swift move, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, led a delegation to Babalola’s office in Ekiti state to appeal for a resolution of Farotimi’s case
• Reacting, Omoyele Sowore condemned Obi's visit, describing it as a "colossal injustice to the civil rights struggle in Nigeria"

Legit.ng journalist Esther Odili has over two years of experience covering political parties and movements.

Omoyele Sowore, the 2023 African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, has criticised Labour Party's 2023 flagbearer, Peter Obi, for visiting Afe Babalola (SAN)'s office in Ekiti state.

Obi’s delegation visited Chief Afe Babalola (SAN) to appeal for the release of Dele Farotimi, a human rights lawyer and author, who was granted bail after being accused of defamation by Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University Ado Ekiti (ABUAD).

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Sowore condemns Obi's visit to Babalola

In a post, accompanied by a photo shared on his X page on Monday, December 9, Sowore condemned the delegation led by Obi, who went to beg for what he described as the "unjust detention and prosecution of Farotimi."

Sowore likened Obi’s visit to a historical injustice, comparing it to forcing civil rights icon Rosa Parks to give up her seat on a bus. He implied that Obi’s actions undermined the struggle for judicial justice (civil rights).

The presidential hopeful tweeted:

"I condemn those who went to “beg” Chief Afe Babalola today over the unjust detention and persecution of @DeleFarotimi; the delegation led by @PeterObi did colossal injustice to the struggle to drain the swamp of judicial criminality in our country; Obi’s action is like forcing Rosa Parks to return to back of the bus of racial injustice during the civil rights era in the US! The struggle continues! #RevolutionNow #FreeDeleFarotimiNow."

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Photo of Dele Farotimi in handcuff attracts heated reactions: "This Is preposterous"

Read more about Dele Farotimi's case here:

• Photo of Dele Farotimi in handcuff attracts heated reactions: "This Is preposterous"
• Dele Farotimi: Yoruba council sends message to Tinubu, IGP, AGF over arrest of human rights lawyer

How Dele Farotimi allegedly defamed Afe Babalola

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Aare Afe Babalola explained how Dele Farotimi defamed him through the contents of his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.

Babalola noted that Farotimi made several defamatory statements against him, his law firm, Afe Babalola & Co (Emmanuel Chambers), and his lawyers, Olu Daramola SAN and Ola Faro Esq.

Babalola submitted a petition to the Ekiti state commissioner of police, Adeniran Akinwale, on November 19, requesting a criminal defamation investigation regarding the book's defamatory contents.

Proofreading by Nkem Ikeke, journalist and copy editor at Legit.ng.

Source: Legit.ng