The ongoing defamation suit filed by Femi Falana and his son, Falz, against Vincent Otse, popularly known as Very Dark Man (VDM), took a new turn on Wednesday as an Ikeja High Court reserved January 23, 2025, for the hearing.
VDM is facing a defamation suit filed against him by lawyer Femi Falana and his son, Folarin, also called Falz, over an unverified audio recording of a one-sided narrative by Bobrisky, alleging perversion of justice by Mr. Falana and his son.
When the case was called, counsel to Messrs Falana and Falz, Muiz Banire, informed the court that the claimants had filed the originating process and served it on the parties. However, Justice Matthias Dawodu noted that the originating process was not before the court.
“In this circumstance, my lord, the best thing to do is to adjourn the matter so that we can go back to the registry to file all the administrative processes,” Mr. Banire said.
On the other hand, counsel to VDM, Marvin Omorogbe, prayed the court to strike out the lawsuit due to the absence of a valid writ of summons. He argued that the writ already filed was invalid as it bore the same suit number as the preemptive remedy proceedings.
“Preemptive remedy proceedings end after injunction is granted or refused. They have gone ahead to file a writ, using the same suit number as the preemptive remedy proceedings. And the court said no, that a fresh writ of summons with a new suit number needs to be filed,” Mr. Omorogbe said.
Justice Dawodu struck out a motion dated October 18, following no objections from the claimant’s counsel, and adjourned the case until January 23, 2025, for a hearing of the preliminary objections.
Additionally, the court had previously ordered VDM to take down the alleged defamatory video made against the Falanas on September 24. This order followed an ex parte originating application filed by Mr. Falana and his son against VDM’s actions.
The case has been adjourned until January 23, 2025, to allow for the necessary administrative processes to be filed and for the hearing of preliminary objections.
