CASE OF FALANA, FALZ AGAINST VDM FAILS TO PROCEED AS COURT ADJOURNS TILL JAN 23RD
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By Aishat Momoh. O. and Sefiu Ajape
An Ikeja High Court has adjourned the hearing of a defamation suit filed against controversial online activist Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), until January 23, 2025.
VDM is facing legal action from Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana and his son, the musician and actor Folarin Falana, also known as Falz, over allegations of defamation.
At the court session on Thursday, counsel for the claimants, Mr. Muiz Banire (SAN), informed the court that the originating process had been filed and served on the parties involved. However, Banire noted that a motion on notice, which was filed on October 25, had not yet been fully processed by the court, prompting him to request an adjournment.
In response, Justice Matthias Dawodu pointed out that the originating process was not yet before the court, and the claimants’ counsel requested additional time to file the necessary administrative paperwork.
“My lord, given the circumstances, we request that the case be adjourned so we can return to the registry to file all the required administrative processes,” Banire said.
However, VDM’s lawyer, Mr. Marvin Omorogbe, raised concerns over the validity of the writ of summons, suggesting that it was not properly before the court. Omorogbe argued that the writ had been filed under the same suit number as the pre-emptive remedy proceedings, which the court had already addressed in an earlier ruling.
He explained that a new writ of summons, with a separate suit number, should have been filed to proceed with the case.
“The pre-emptive remedy proceedings end once an injunction is granted or refused,” Omorogbe stated. “The writ already filed is invalid, and the appropriate administrative process needs to be followed.”
Omorogbe also requested that the court strike out a motion dated October 18, asserting that the claimants had admitted to issues related to the preemptive proceedings.
Justice Dawodu, after hearing both sides, struck out the motion, with no objections raised by the claimants’ counsel. The judge confirmed that the matter could not proceed without the proper writ before the court, and therefore adjourned the case to January 23, 2025, to allow for the hearing of preliminary objections.
The court also adjourned a related case involving VDM and Falz for the same reason.
In a separate ruling on October 14, the court had ordered VDM to remove a video he posted on September 24, which falsely accused the Falanas of corruption and perverting justice. The video was based on an unverified audio recording from a cross-dresser, Bobrisky, making defamatory claims about the father-son duo.
The court had issued an injunction restraining VDM from further publishing defamatory content about the Falanas on his social media platforms pending the outcome of the defamation suit.
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