Obi slammed for visiting Afe Babalola as pro-Farotimi’s protests begin today

Former Governor Peter Obi has come under heavy criticism for paying the Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Afe Babalola, a visit amid the ongoing trial of rights activist Dele Farotimi over defamation allegations.

Mr Obi, who led a delegation in a visit to Mr Babalola in his office in Ekiti on Monday, refused to make the purpose of the visit public.
The former Anambra governor also visited Mr Farotimi in jail.

Despite not making the purpose of the visit public, Mr Obi could be taking that step regarding the allegations preferred by Mr Farotimi over his controversial book ‘Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System’, which has caught the attention of Nigerians both at home and abroad.

In a reaction to Mr Obi’s visit, in a tweet on Monday night, SaharaReporters publisher Omoyele Sowore slammed Mr Obi’s visit as harmful to the struggles to address injustice in Nigeria’s judicial system.
“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,” Mr Sowore posted on X.

Mr Farotimi is standing trial over defamation allegations preferred against him by Babalola.
The controversy surrounding the book, which initially saw low sales after its release in July, has made it a bestseller on Amazon within three days of its author’s incarceration as curious Nigerians besieged the site with orders to read the damning accusations of corruption levelled against Mr Babalola.

Meanwhile, protests against the continued incarceration of Mr Farotimi were slated to be held Tuesday in Lagos, Abuja, Ekiti and London.
Revelations extracted from a leaked U.S. government cable showed Mr Babalola spent at least $1.125 million on five judges who sat at the Court of Appeal in the early 2000s to procure a favourable judgment for his client, then Adamawa Governor Boni Haruna.