Court adjourns Falana’s defamation case as VDM seeks dismissal

The Lagos High Court in Ikeja has postponed the hearing of the defamation case brought against social media influencer Vincent Otse, also known as Very Dark Man (VDM), by Senior Advocate of Nigeria Femi Falana and his son, Folarin (popularly known as Falz), until January 23, 2025.

At Thursday’s session, Muiz Banire, counsel for the Falanas, informed the court that they had filed the necessary originating process and served it on the defendant.

Banire also said a motion on notice was served on Oct. 25, but Justice Matthias Dawodu noted that the originating process was not before the court.

The claimant’s counsel also asked the court to adjourn the case to enable him to file administrative processes.

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“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,” Banire said.

In his response, counsel to VDM, Marvin Omorogbe, said it had been observed that there was no valid writ of summon before the court.

He, therefore, asked the court to strike out the lawsuit.

Omorogbe said he did not know how the registry of the court would prepare any administrative process.

He added that the writ already filed was invalid as it was not before the court.

According to him, the writ bears the same suit number as the preemptive remedy proceedings.

He said, “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.

“At this point my lord, we will be seeking for a date to hear our preliminary objection”.

Omorogbe further urged the court to withdraw a motion dated Oct. 18.

He said the motion was a move to appeal on the ground that the claimants had admitted, there was an issue in respect to the preemptive proceedings.

Justice Dawodu, however, struck out the motion, following no objections from the claimant’s counsel.

“I will give you a date for hearing because we are talking about a writ that is not before the court,” Dawodu said.

The judge thereafter adjourned the case until January 23, 2025, for hearing of the preliminary objections.