How Director General Of Lagos State Sport Lost 6 Years Legal Battle On Bribery & Defamation Against Sowore

Sowore, SaharaReporters has won a 6 Years Legal Battle Against Lekan Fatodu As Court Awards ₦500k in Damages to Sowore and a previous ₦200k in Damages to SaharaReporters.

The Director General of the Lagos State Sports Commission Lekan Fatodu has lost in a 6 years legal battle against Sowore and SaharaReporters.

HOW IT ALL STARTED AND HOW IT ENDED

A legal dispute arose after SaharaReporters published a January 2017 article linking Mr. Fatodu to controversial contracts facilitated through the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under Sambo Dasuki. The report alleged Mr. Fatodu acted as a front for former Aviation Minister Femi Fani-Kayode in a scheme to launder public funds through phoney contracts.

This publication referenced public documents from a 2016 federal government investigation into misappropriated arms procurement funds, known as the Dasukigate scandal, which had listed companies connected to Mr. Fatoduiss receiving payments without executing contracts.
SaharaReporters defended its publication as public interest journalism, arguing it was their constitutional and moral obligation to inform the public about government investigations into corruption. They presented multiple government documents and public notices that had mentioned Mr. Fatodu’s firm in relation to ONSA contract scandals. The defence asserted that the public deserved to know this information for the sake of transparency and accountability, especially given that Col. Dasuki had diverted public funds for arms procurement, and Mr. Fatodu’s company was among those who received payments for unfulfilled contracts.

The legal action followed a physical confrontation in January 2017 between Mr. Fatodu and Mr. Sowore, which led to Mr. Sowore’s arrest for criminal defamation, blackmail, and threats. Mr. Sowore, founder of SaharaReporters, claimed the police acted in concert with Mr. Fatodu denied any bribery attempts, maintaining that the lawsuit and arrest were attempts to suppress SaharaReporters’ investigative reporting. Further attempts by Mr. Fatodu to silence Mr. Sowore included a petition to the Lagos Governor to evict him from his office, though the governor’s office denied receiving it.