An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan on Thursday dismissed a ₦5 billion defamation lawsuit filed by the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, against Yoruba nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
Justice O.T. Ademola-Salami, who presided over the case, also awarded ₦500,000 in costs against Adams in favour of Igboho.
According to reports, in the suit marked M/1006/2004, Adams, through his lawyer Sikiru Akinrele, sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights, claiming that Igboho had defamed him in his role as the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland and demanded ₦5 billion in damages.
He further alleged that Igboho secretly recorded a phone conversation involving him without consent to obtain defamatory material, arguing that the act violated his right to privacy under Section 37 of the amended 1999 Constitution.
Adams was seeking, among other reliefs, a declaration that “It is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional for anyone to surreptitiously record the private telephone conversation between other persons without the consent and authority of the parties to the conversation.
“A declaration that it is unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional for the respondent to covertly record and publicly release or publish the private telephone conversation between the applicant and another person, without the consent and authority of the applicant.”
But when the case came up on April 30, 2025, counsel for Adams, Akinrele, prayed the Court grant his application for the enforcement of his client’s fundamental right and accede to all the reliefs in the suit.
However, counsel for Igboho, Junaid Sanusi, informed the Court that he had opposed the application and subsequently filed counter counter-affidavit and a written address in support of his counter-affidavit, both of which were consequently adopted.
He urged the Court to dismiss the case of the applicant, contending that “the applicant did not personally depose to the affidavit in support of his application and the law is that if a third party deposes, he must state the reason why the applicant cannot personally depose to the affidavit in support of his claims.”
The Court, therefore, adjourned the suit till Thursday, July 3, 2025, for judgment.
Delivering his judgement on Thursday, Justice Ademola-Salami dismissed “The suit and awarded a cost of N500,000 against Gani Adams, who was not represented during the proceeding by his counsel.”
The judge upheld the submission by Igboho’s counsel, declaring that, “The affidavit in support of the claims of the applicant (Gani Adams) was defective, having not been deposed to by the applicant or a person informed by him.”
The Court also declared that “Adams failed to prove that his telephone line was tapped by Sunday Igboho, assuming that the affidavit was even regular as submitted by the defendant’s counsel in his oral argument.”
