Mr Omoyele Sowore, the publisher of Sahara
Reporters, Nigeria’s popular online
medium, has vowed to challenge an order of
a Kwara State High Court which blocked
bank accounts linked to him last month.
According to Premium Times, Omoyele
Sowore said the July 25 garnishee order in
Ilorin, the state capital, was “fraudulently
procured” by the Senate President, Bukola
Saraki, as part of an ongoing libel suit
against him and his platform.
A judge, Adeyinka Oyinloye, had issued the
order to the United Bank for Africa, UBA and
Guaranty Trust Bank, GTB, bankers of Mr.
Sowore and Sahara Reporters, instructing
them to immediately seize all funds held in a
string of accounts associated with the
defendants.
The development has been condemned by
media rights advocates, who warned
judicial officers to exercise restraint in
pronouncing judgments in libel cases.
Mr. Oyinloye’s order came nearly a month
after he also awarded Mr. Saraki up to N4
billion in damages on June 28.
The judge also said Sahara Reporters and
Mr. Sowore must pay 10 per cent (N400
million) interest on the N4 billion monthly
until both the principal damages and
accrued interests are finally cleared.
Mr. Saraki instituted the case in Ilorin, his
hometown where he is considered the most
powerful political personality, accusing
Sahara Reporters of publishing defamatory
content against his personality.
The four stories at issue, which included
news and opinion contents, were published
between September and December 2015,
court filings published by Vanguard
Newspapers showed.
Although the Vanguard quoted Mr. Saraki’s
lawyers as alleging that Mr. Sowore
frustrated all efforts to serve court summons
on him, the publisher contradicted the claim
in an exchange with Premium Times
Tuesday.
He explained that Mr. Saraki’s lawyers and
associates ‘conspired’ to send court papers
to wrong addresses both in Nigeria and
United States in order to deprive him of a
chance to defend himself before the judge.
“They sent their notice to 142 W. 29th
Street, New York, when for a fact Sahara
Reporters’ address is situated at 146 W.
29th Street, New York,” Mr. Sowore told
Premium Times.
“So, you can see they deliberately sent it to
the wrong address so we won’t be aware of
the lawsuit,” he added.
In Lagos, where Sahara Reporters opened a
multimedia facility on Isaac John Street in
May 25, Mr. Saraki’s lawyers also sent the
notice to the wrong street number, Mr.
Sowore said.
The publisher said when he heard that a
court process that involved him was going
on in Ilorin, he informed his lawyers in
Lagos to obtain documents relating to the
case.
“But while they were trying to get the June
28 judgement and other relating
documents, the garnishee order was
issued,” he said.
Mr. Sowore condemned Mr. Saraki’s tactics
but said Sahara Reporters’ activities have
not been ‘seriously impeded by the
development.’
“They blocked only funds in the bank
accounts in Nigeria. But our activities have
always been run from the United States,” the
publisher said
The money blocked in Nigeria belongs to
Sahara Reporters Media Lab which is a
foundation, Mr. Sowore added.
He said that the media lab was never part of
the libel action as ‘it didn’t even exist as at
the time the case was instituted.’
“But Saraki used his intrigues and influence
over the State Security Service to get the
Media Lab account frozen,” Mr. Sowore said.
Specifically, the account was holding the
remaining portion the $300,000 grant
which Sahara Reporters Foundation
received from MacArthur Foundation earlier
this year, Mr. Sowore told Premium Times.
“We’ve done a lot of projects from the $
300,000 so far paid to us by the MacArthur
Foundation. The rest of the money is what
the court blocked,” the publisher said.
Lanre Arogundade, Director at International
Press Centre in Lagos, criticised the
judgement as hasty, lopsided and draconian.
“The judiciary needs a lot of caution in
entering judgement against the media. This
is because we’re looking at the issue of
possible libel or defamation which is often
used to suppress the media,” he said.
He said the N4 billion judgement against
Sahara Reporters was largely aimed at
bankrupting the platform than serving
justice to the plaintiff.
“When you award a damage of N4 billion,
you have gone beyond getting justice for
whoever was offended to wreck the
organisation,” he said.
He said Mr. Saraki got the judgement
because of his status as a highly-placed
public official.
“If not because it was Saraki that went to
court, the judgement might have been
different, especially for an ordinary man,”
Mr. Arogundade said.
“It was an overkill,” he added.
