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(Dr Olu Agunloye. Photo Credit: Nation News)
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Maitama has awarded damages of N10 million against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for defaming a former Minister of Power, Dr Olu Agunloye, through libellous publications on its website and social media handles.
Justice Peter Kekemeke, in a judgment delivered on Wednesday, found that the EFCC had defamed Agunloye through publications claiming the former minister was being prosecuted for fr@ud, a claim that turned out not to be true.
Agunloye had filed the suit, marked FCT/HC/CV/1199/2024, through his lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, SAN, claiming to have been defamed in an EFCC publication titled “EFCC arraigns Agunloye over $6billion fraud.”
Justice Kekemeke held that the claimant had sufficiently established the elements of defamation through the evidence presented in court, identifying such elements as the publication of a statement in permanent form, the publication referring to a specific person, and the statement injuring that person’s reputation in the eyes of reasonable members of the public.
The judge held that, in Agunloye’s case, the contentious publications were in permanent form and specifically mentioned the claimant’s name.
He found that the EFCC’s sole witness in the case, Assistant Commissioner of Police Umar Hussain Babangida, after initially denying knowledge of the publication, later admitted it had been made by the defendant’s media department.
Justice Kekemeke said Agunloye’s case was not a challenge to the EFCC’s power to investigate economic and financial crimes, as the defendant had claimed.
He said that having reviewed the charge in the criminal case against the claimant before the High Court of the FCT in Apo, he found nowhere in it that mentioned fr@ud, contrary to the EFCC’s publication.
He noted that the issue of fr@ud was not contained in any of the exhibits tendered before the court during the hearing, describing the title of the publication as a “sensational headline.”
Justice Kekemeke, who found that the EFCC had failed to prove the truth of the publication, held that it was unfair and did not accurately represent the proceedings in court.
He noted that the EFCC is an investigative agency and not a news agency, adding that the defendant knew Agunloye was not involved in a $6 billion fr@ud, or any fr@ud at all.
The judge held that the claimant had effectively established malice, resolved both issues against the defendant, and entered judgment in Agunloye’s favour.
Justice Kekemeke declared that the contentious publications made on the EFCC’s official website and social media handle were false and defamatory.
He ordered the defendant to retract the publications and issue a public apology to the claimant on its website and in two national dailies.
The judge also issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining the EFCC from further defaming the claimant and awarded N10 million in damages against the commission.
Speaking on the court’s decision, EFCC’s lawyer, Dr Wahab Shittu, SAN, said his client would appeal the judgment, arguing that although the court had made its pronouncement, the case was premature since the claimant’s criminal prosecution was still pending before another High Court of the FCT.
