A 25-year-old man, Chike Ibezim, was on Monday, March 25, arraigned by the Federal government, for allegedly defaming the immediate past Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

Ibezim is one of three individuals who took to social media to accuse Fashola of writing the judgments of the presidential election petition court (PEPC) that dismissed the petitions by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in favour of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ibezim was arraigned before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court in Abuja on a six-count charge. The charge, marked FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023, borders on criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.

Count one of the charges reads;

“That you Ibezim Chike Victor, male with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and Reportera.ng (body corporate) now at large on or about 05/08/2023 at Abuja, did commit an illegal Act to wit: criminal conspiracy; when you jointly agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in your online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification, you thereby commit offence punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cyber-crime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.”

However, Fashola said the allegation was “baseless and defamatory”. The former minister described those behind the allegations as “agents of destabilisation”.

The matter was adjourned till April 15 for continuation of trial.