The Court of Appeal in Abuja has vacated its earlier order reserving judgment in the ₦100m defamation case involving the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and two Department of State Services officers, directing that the case files be returned to the division’s Presiding Justice to determine a fresh hearing date.
Justice Danlami Senchi gave the directive on Tuesday during proceedings in two related appeals arising from the defamation dispute.
The appeals are marked CA/ABJ/CV/1114/2026 and CA/ABJ/CV/1105/2026.
The development followed proceedings in a separate appeal filed by Kolawole Oluwadare against Sarah John and two others, during which the court expressed reservations about an application seeking to amend the reliefs in a pending motion.
Counsel to the appellant, Oluwatosin Adesioye, sought permission to amend the application concerning additional records of appeal and an extension of time to challenge the lower court’s ruling and judgment.
Justice Senchi told counsel that the court was “finding it difficult to grant the prayers” and advised him to refine the application.
Adesioye subsequently withdrew the application on the court’s advice, and it was struck out without objection from the respondents.
SERAP’s substantive appeal challenges a May 5, 2026 judgment of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, presided over by Justice Yusuf Halilu, which awarded ₦100m in damages to two DSS officers over publications relating to an alleged visit by DSS operatives to the organisation’s Abuja office in September 2024.
Arguing SERAP’s appeal, its counsel, Tayo Oyetibo, SAN, challenged the jurisdiction of the trial court and questioned the identification of one of the respondents.
Oyetibo argued that the judgment was delivered in favour of Sarah John for a person identified as Sarah David. He also challenged the reliance on physical descriptions in the publications to establish the identity of the individuals concerned.
He adopted SERAP’s brief and urged the appellate court to set aside the judgment.
However, counsel for the first and second respondents, O. S. Kehinde, urged the court to dismiss the appeal.
Kehinde argued that SERAP had failed to prove that Sarah John and Sarah David were different people and maintained that the issue had not been raised before the trial court.
On identification, he submitted that a person did not have to be expressly named in a publication for it to be actionable if people familiar with the person could identify them from the description.
He also said a prosecution witness had testified that the respondents were identified through descriptions contained in the publications.
Counsel to the third respondent did not present arguments in the appeal.
The court’s latest directive means the parties will await communication of a new hearing date from the Presiding Justice of the Abuja Division.
The substantive appeal challenges the lower court’s award of ₦100m in damages against SERAP, with the organisation disputing the trial court’s jurisdiction and its findings on identification.
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