An Oyo State High Court sitting in Ibadan, on Thursday, dismissed a N5 billion defamation case filed by the Aareonakakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, against Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho.
The court, led by Justice O.T. Ademola-Salami, also ordered Adams to pay N500,000 to Igboho as legal cost for the suit. Adams had accused Igboho of secretly recording a private phone conversation and publishing it without his permission, a move he believed damaged his image.
In the case, which was filed under suit number M/1006/2004, Adams, through his lawyer, Sikiru Akinrele, sought the enforcement of his fundamental rights. He claimed that Igboho had recorded his phone conversation with another individual without consent.
Adams said this act violated his right to privacy as stated in Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, and demanded N5 billion in damages for the harm caused.
His legal team requested the court to declare that it was “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.”
They also sought another 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.”
However, when the case was heard on April 30, 2025, Igboho’s lawyer, Junaid Sanusi, told the court that they had opposed the application and had filed a counter-affidavit.
According to Sanusi, “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.”
Justice Ademola-Salami postponed the matter to July 3, 2025, to give his final decision.
On Thursday, the judge ruled in favor of Igboho, dismissing the entire suit and noting that the affidavit presented by Adams’ team was invalid.
“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 stated.
The court further noted that Adams did not provide enough proof that his phone line was tapped by Sunday Igboho.
“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,” Justice Ademola-Salami declared.
