Court dismisses Lekan Fatodu’s defamation suit against Sowore, awards N500k damages

The Lagos high court in Ikeja has dismissed the defamation suit filed by Lekan Fatodu and his company, Leeman Communications, against Omoyele Sowore, an activist and publisher of Sahara Reporters.

Oyindamola Ogala, the presiding judge, dismissed the defamation suit on Tuesday because the claimants failed to prove that the alleged defamatory material was published to a third party.

According to Sahara Reporters, Ogala awarded the sum of N500,000 against Fatodu after dismissing the suit.

The case started in 2017, when Fatodu and his firm sued Sowore and Sahara Reporters over publications on public funds and contracts allegedly linked to the office of the national security adviser (ONSA).

The company denied the allegations.

Fatodu also filed a petition against Sowore and submitted same to the Lagos police command, which led to the activist’s arrest in 2017.

During the proceedings, Sowore’s legal team told the court that the second claimant allegedly received funds for phoney contracts awarded by the ONSA as part of the arms fund scandal.

Speaking on the verdict, Stanley Imhanruor, the principal partner at Primeview, accused Fatodu of legal harassment, adding that a court had previously awarded N200,000 over the same matter.

“The court awarded N500,000 against Lekan Fatodu, and it is the second time the court would award costs against him over the same lawsuit,” he said.

“A cost of N200,000 was initially awarded against him for bringing a wrongful lawsuit against Sahara Reporters Media Foundation.

“That was years ago when they joined the Sahara Foundation as a party to the suit. So when the name was eventually struck out from the case, the court awarded costs against Fatodu as the claimant who initially joined the Sahara Foundation in the suit.”

Commenting on the judgment, Fatodu told TheCable that the court did not rule on whether the publication was right or wrong, adding that the verdict was delivered because no third party testified on what the publication had caused.

“It was not as if the court said what they published was right,” he said.

“It (judgment) was not based on the substance of the case. We had to show that the publication lowered the esteem of the company and me. We were the only witnesses — my organisation and I. The court did not validate the publication.

“We have requested the certified true copies of the judgment so that necessary steps can be taken.”

Fatodu is the current director-general of the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC).