Ibezim and others were alleged to have committed the offence against Fashola on or about August 5, 2023 in Abuja.
By Jeffrey Agbo
The Federal Government has opened the trial of a blogger, Victor Ibezim, who alleged that ex-minister Babatunde Fashola authored the judgments of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) that dismissed petitions made by the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The PEPC, which dismissed the petitions of LP’s candidate, Peter Obi; and that of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar; affirmed the election of President Bola Tinubu.
Ibezim, who was alleged to be one of three persons linked to the publications, was arraigned before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court in Abuja on a six-count charge.
The amended charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/434/2023 and dated October 17, 2023, was filed October 18, 2023 by the Inspector-General (IG) of Police.
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Ibezim, who is the sole defendant, was charged with criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation, among others.
Justice Olajuwon fixed April 15 for continuation of trial.
In the charge, Ibezim with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim and reportera.ng (corporate body) now at large on or about August 5, 2023 in Abuja, were alleged to have committed the offence against Fashola.
They were alleged to have criminally conspired and jointly “agreed to publish a defamatory statement of false allegations in their online social media, the reportera.ng news, against His Excellency Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification.”
The alleged offence is said to be punishable under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015.
