Sahara Reporters defeats Saraki in libel case

The Court of Appeal in Ilorin, Kwara, has nullified a lower court’s
judgment that awarded N4 billion in damages to President of the Senate,
Bukola Saraki, in a libel case he instituted against Sahara Reporters.

Mr Omoyele Sowore, founder of the online news outlet and presidential
candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), was
joined as a defender in the suit.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki

In the judgment delivered on Tuesday, the Court of Appeal set aside
the verdict of Justice A. S. Oyinloye of the Kwara State High Court
given on June 28, 2017, Sahara Reporters said in a statement.

The appellate judges, Ibrahim Salauwa, Chidi Uwa and HammaBarka,
unanimously ruled that the judgment be nullified and assigned to a new
judge at the lower court for retrial.

The account of Sahara Reporters Media Foundation, a Non Governmental
Organisation, was garnisheed in the suit between Sahara Reporters, an
online citizen journalism news website, and Saraki.

This is in spite of the fact that the foundation was never named in the suit, neither was it a news publishing platform.

Justice Oyinloye had entered a judgment of N4 billion against Sahara
Reporters and its founder, Sowore, over allegations of defamation of
Saraki.

However, the judgment was used to obtain a garnishee order against the foundation, a separate entity.

Sometime in 2017, Saraki had sued Sahara Reporters and its founder to
the tune of N1billion each as general damages for four different
publications on Sahara Reporters.

He also sought an “injunction restraining the defendants from further
writing, printing or causing to be written, printed or circulated or
otherwise published of the claimant, the said or similar libel”.

However, Stanley Imhanruor, a senior lawyer from Falana &
Falana’s Chambers, who represented Sahara Reporters at both the High
Court and the Appeal Court, argued that his clients were never served in
the motion on notice.

Imhanruor said the defendants were not given an opportunity to defend
themselves during the hearings that led to Justice Oyinloye’s judgment.

Paul Erokoro, Saraki’s lead counsel, had claimed in court that he
could not serve the counter affidavit on the counsel for Sahara
Reporters because there was no address for service within the court’s
jurisdiction.

He argued that he had no obligation to serve counsel directly unless
the court ordered him to do so or if he sought the court’s leave to
serve counsel directly.

Imhanruor contested this argument, stating that his chambers had sent
one Adams Adebara to the chambers of Tunde Olomu & Co, to pick up
the counter affidavit, to no avail.

He told the court that, rather than give the document to Adebara, the chambers rudely dismissed him.

He explained to the court that Saraki’s lawyer had asked Adebara, who
was to collect the counter affidavit, to meet with him on the premises
of the court so that the bailiff could serve him, but Erokoro failed to
deliver on his promise.

He told the court that multiple calls to Erokoro were ignored.

The case was, however, withdrawn from the lower court, having lost
faith in the process and an appeal filed at the Court of Appeal.

The protracted case had taken several turns before the eventual judgement of the appeal court.

In one of the hearings at the Federal High Court in Ilorin,
journalists and student activists who had gone to court to observe the
hearing were harassed by alleged loyalists of the Senate President.