A Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Tuesday struck out the preliminary objection in the N1 billion defamation suit filed by renowned human rights lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) and his son, popular musician Folarin Falana, aka Falz, against social media influencer Vincent Otse, also known as VeryDarkMan.
Justice Mathias Dawoodu struck out the suit after discovering that the substantive matter was already being heard by another court. He ruled that continuing proceedings in his court would be unnecessary and improper.
Neither the Falanas nor Otse appeared in court for the hearing. However, Otse’s legal representative, N.O. Alagbe, appearing on behalf of lead counsel Marvin Omorogbe, informed the court about a pending application to stay proceedings.
The application, dated April 11 and filed on April 14, sought to suspend the case until a judgment is delivered by Justice Azeez, who is handling the parallel suit.
Justice Dawoodu expressed surprise, noting that the application had not reached his court. He questioned why the matter was being brought before him if the same suit was already under consideration elsewhere.
The Falanas’ counsel, Omotayo Olatunbosun, told the court he received the stay application late Monday afternoon but insisted that the preliminary objection had been properly scheduled for hearing.
He accused the defence of attempting to delay proceedings and cited a Supreme Court ruling which states that courts are not obligated to act on documents not formally entered into their files.
Despite the argument, Justice Dawoodu held that since the substantive suit was already before another judge, it would be inappropriate to proceed.
“Consequently, this suit is hereby struck out,” he ruled.
The Falanas had filed the defamation suit demanding ₦1 billion in damages — ₦500 million each — over a viral video in which Otse allegedly claimed that Femi Falana demanded ₦10 million from controversial crossdresser Idris Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, to obstruct justice.
