Afe Babalola’s law firm has asked the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC) to disbar Dele Farotimi, a human rights advocate, for alleged unethical conduct.
The firm wrote a 90-page petition dated December 6, 2024 and signed by Ola Faro, a partner in the firm.
LPDC is a committee established by the Legal Practitioners Act and charged with upholding ethical standards in the legal profession.
Faro told the LPDC that he wrote the petition in his personal capacity “and for and on behalf of the law firm of Afe Babalola & Co”
The lawyer was also mentioned in Farotimi’s book titled: ‘Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System’.
Babalola, a senior advocate of Nigeria, and some lawyers in his firm, had alleged that Farotimi “criminally” defamed them in his book.
In the petition, the firm accused Farotimi of engaging in “conduct which is unbecoming of a legal practitioner by making false accusations against the Supreme Court and the legal profession”.
The chamber said Farotimi’s book discredited the Nigerian judiciary and judges.
The petitioner said the book also dented the hard-earned reputation and financial credit of the firm.
“The respondent participated in conduct that he believes to be unlawful by bribing judicial officers and having unlawful access to a judicial officer,” the petition reads.