…Directs Commission to Retract Report, Publish Public Apology
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has ordered the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to pay former Minister of Power, Olu Agunloye, the sum of ₦10 million in damages over a defamatory publication linking him to an alleged $6 billion fraud.
The court also directed the anti-graft agency to retract the publication and issue a public apology to the former minister on its official website and in two national newspapers.
Justice Peter Kekemeke, who delivered the judgement, further restrained the EFCC from making additional defamatory statements against Agunloye.
The judgement followed a suit filed by the former minister over a publication on the EFCC’s website and its X social media account with the headline: “EFCC Arraigns Agunloye Over $6 Billion Fraud.”
In the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/1199/2024, Agunloye argued that the publication falsely portrayed him as a corrupt and fraudulent person, thereby damaging his reputation in the eyes of the public.
He asked the court to declare the publication false and defamatory, compel the EFCC to retract it and issue an unreserved apology, as well as award him ₦1 billion in general and exemplary damages.
Delivering judgement, Justice Kekemeke held that Agunloye had successfully established the essential elements required to prove defamation.
The judge ruled that the publication was made in a permanent form, clearly referred to the former minister and was capable of lowering his reputation in the estimation of reasonable members of the public.
The court also considered the testimony of Umar Hussain Babangida, an Assistant Commissioner of Police who testified on behalf of the EFCC.
According to the judgement, Babangida initially denied knowledge of the publication but later admitted that it originated from the commission’s media department.
Consequently, the court awarded Agunloye ₦10 million in damages and ordered the EFCC to retract the publication and publicly apologise to him.
The judgement marks a significant legal victory for the former minister in his challenge against the manner in which the anti-graft agency publicised the allegations against him.
