What is a defamation? is a question that followed the release of audio recordings by social media personality Martins Vincent Otse (VeryDarkMan), which alleges that Okuneye Idris (Bobrisky), a popular crossdresser, bribed Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officers with N15 million to drop money laundering charges against him.
Bobrisky has denied the allegations.
VeryDarkMan in the video monologue made some comments linking renowned human rights lawyer Femi Falana and his son, Folarin Falana (Falz) to the bribery and other allegations.
In response to the allegations, Falana filed a defamation lawsuit against VeryDarkMan, seeking redress for reputational damage caused by the claims, this generated a lot of conversations with some Nigerians perplexed as to why Falana would sue VeryDarkMan since he wasn’t the author of the audio recording he amplified in his monologue, while a section of Nigerians are saying you must not be an author of something for you to be liable of defamation.
To gain a clearer insight into the legal consequences of defamation in Nigeria, it’s important to examine how defamation is addressed under both civil and criminal law.
What does the law say about defamation?
According to Britannica, defamation, in law is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person that result in damage to that person’s reputation. Libel and slander are the legal subcategories of defamation.
Section 373 of the Nigerian Criminal Code defines “defamation” as “Any person who publishes any defamatory matter is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for one year; and any person who publishes any defamatory matter knowing it to be false is liable to imprisonment for two years.”
This section provides the legal basis for handling defamation cases, specifying the penalties for publishing defamatory material and differentiating between cases where the publisher knows the information is false.
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Speaking to The ICIR, Saidu Muhammad Lawal, a legal practitioner with Spectrum Legal Services defined defamation as a statement, whether in permanent form or otherwise, which causes injury to someone’s reputation.
“One key ingredient is that the defamatory statement must have been made or published to a third party. Therefore, if I call you a thief, it wouldn’t amount to defamation because I haven’t called you a thief before anyone else. In essence, at least one person other than you must see or hear the statement for the statement to amount to defamation” he noted.
Samuel Olukade, who is the principal partner of Maple Hills Solicitors shared the same view as Saidu.
He said, “Defamation is proven by showing that the statement is false, showing that it was said to or in the presence of a third party and it must be proven that the statement made negatively altered the reputation of the plaintiff in the eye of a reasonable third party”.
Forms of defamation
Defamation can take two forms.
- Slander
- Libel
In 1961, Nigeria’s Federal Government enacted the Federal Defamation Act, making both libel and slander legally actionable.
Under the Act, defamation through broadcast was considered slander when spoken and heard, but classified as libel if it was read from a script.
Defamation: Civil or criminal?
In Nigerian law, defamation can be both civil and criminal depending on the context, a defamation case can result in both civil remedies and criminal penalties.
In civil law, defamation, including both libel and slander, is treated as a wrongful act. An individual who believes their reputation has been harmed can file a lawsuit in civil court seeking compensation for the damage caused.
Civil defamation cases focus on obtaining financial restitution for the injury to the person’s reputation.
Under the Criminal Code in the southern region and the Penal Code in the northern region, defamation is considered a criminal offence.
Can you go to prison for defamation?
Section 373 and related sections of the Criminal Code impose penalties, including imprisonment, for defamation, particularly if the false nature of the statement is known. The Penal Code in the northern region contains similar provisions for defamation.
Can you be sued if the information shared is partially true?
Stating if someone can be sued for defamation if the information shared is partially true, Lawal highlighted that it varies.
“It depends. The judicial decisions on the issue are that if the statement is substantially true, then the action for defamation would fail. For example, if there’s a statement that A was convicted for the offence or rape and served 10 years on provision, it wouldn’t be defamatory to say A was convicted for the offence of rape and served 15 years in prison”, Lawal stated stated.
Olukade noted that “If the information is partially true, a person can be sued so that the court can look at the extent of truth and the intention of the person that made the distorted statement”.
Can you be liable for republishing defamatory material?
Lawal said, subject to certain exceptions like fair comment, absolute privilege, and qualified privilege, “If you republish defamatory material, you are as liable as the original publisher”.
Defence against defamation suit
Speaking on the defences that can be used in a defamation lawsuit, Olukade highlighted the following:
- Truth or justification: when what the person saying is true, it doesn’t amount to defamation.
- Qualified privilege : where a publication is made with a view to give public information on a matter of public importance.
- Honest opinion: The defendant must show that the statement was an opinion, not a fact, and that it was based on facts that were available at the time. The opinion must be one that an honest person could have held.
On his part Lawal highlighted that the defence of honest opinion/fair comment is usually better suited for matter of public interest involving public figures while stating that “a person who has been defamed can write to the tortfeasor (guilty party) demanding that the statement be retracted. There’s also the option of suing the tortfeasor without having to write first.”
Fatimah Quadri is a Journalist and a Fact-checker at The ICIR. She has written news articles, fact-checks, explainers, and media literacy in an effort to combat information disorder.
She can be reached at sunmibola_q on X or fquadri@icirnigeria.org