An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan has dismissed a N5 billion defamation suit filed by the Aare-Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, against Yoruba nation activist Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, Justice O.T. Ademola-Salami also awarded N500,000 in costs against Adams in favour of Igboho.
Adams had approached the court seeking enforcement of his fundamental rights, alleging that Igboho recorded and published a private telephone conversation involving him without consent. In the suit marked M/1006/2004, Adams, through his counsel Sikiru Akinrele, argued that the action violated his right to privacy as enshrined in Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution.
He sought, among other declarations, 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.”
Adams further asked the court to hold 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.”
At the hearing on April 30, 2025, Akinrele urged the court to grant all reliefs sought. However, counsel to Igboho, Junaid Sanusi, opposed the application and submitted a counter-affidavit along with a written address, which were both adopted.
Sanusi argued that the applicant failed to personally depose to the affidavit in support of the application, a defect he said undermined the entire suit. “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,” Sanusi submitted.
After listening to both parties, the court had adjourned the matter to July 3, 2025, for judgment.
On Thursday, Justice Ademola-Salami ruled in favour of the respondent and dismissed the case. The judge stated that “The suit is hereby dismissed and a cost of N500,000 is awarded against Gani Adams, who was not represented during the proceeding by his counsel.”
He also held 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.”
Additionally, the court found that Adams failed to substantiate the claim that Sunday Igboho tapped his telephone line. “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,” the judge stated.
