A magistrate court in Ekiti State has granted Dele Farotimi a human rights lawyer ₦30 million bail.
The court also asked Farotimi to provide 3 sureties with a landed property within the jurisdiction.
He was told to refrain from media interviews and submit his passport. The case has been adjourned to 13 February 2025.
Farotimi, who has been remanded in a correctional centre in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital for over two weeks, arrived at the Magistrate Court premises around 9:45 am on Friday.
He was conveyed to the court premises in a prison van with a police escort, alighting while raising his hands in appreciation of a cheering crowd outside the court.
His bail comes after the magistrate, Abayomi Adeosun, had at the last sitting, reserved ruling till December 20 on the bail application and ordered that the activist be remanded in prison.
During the court proceedings, Farotimi pleaded not guilty to the 14-count charge that was preferred against him by the police.
His counsel, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, had filed a preliminary objection asking the court to strike out the charge.
According to him, the charge before the court was unknown to the law and the offence of defamation was not recognised under the Criminal Law of Ekiti State, 2021.
Farotimi is being prosecuted before a chief magistrate’s court in Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State for allegedly defaming a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Afe Babalola.