Defamation: Late filing of SERAP’s brief stalls appeals against N101m awarded to DSS officers

The Court of Appeal in Abuja postponed a hearing for appeals filed by the Socio-economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and its Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, against a N101 million fine imposed for defamation. The delay was due to SERAP's late submission of their brief. The appeals, against a May 5 High Court judgment, alleged that SERAP and Oluwadare defamed two Department of State Services (DSS) officials through false publications made on September 10, 2024.

At the hearing, the second appeal, filed by Oluwadare, was deemed not ripe for hearing as the appellant had only just filed their brief. The court set aside the proceedings and rescheduled the hearing to October 13. The May 5 judgment by Justice Halilu Yusuf found that the claimants had sufficient evidence to establish all elements of defamation, rejecting SERAP and Oluwadare's defence of justification due to lack of evidence that their publications were false.

The judge ruled that the publications injured the claimants' reputation in their professional capacity, and ordered SERAP and its officials to observe due diligence before releasing information to the public. The award included N100 million in damages and N1 million in costs, with interest accruing until the defendants paid the sum.