Victor Ibezim faces legal charges including criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, and defamation.
The Federal Government has initiated the trial of blogger Victor Ibezim over allegations implicating former Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola, in influencing judgments of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC), which dismissed petitions from the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the PEPC upheld President Bola Tinubu’s election victory while dismissing petitions from Peter Obi of the LP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.
Ibezim, accused of involvement in the publications, appeared before Justice Bolaji Olajuwon of a Federal High Court in Abuja, facing a six-count charge.
The charges, filed by the Inspector-General (I-G) of Police on October 18, 2023, accuse Ibezim of criminal conspiracy, cyberstalking, defamation, and other offenses. Justice Olajuwon has scheduled April 15 for the trial to resume.
According to the charges, Ibezim, along with Jackson Udeh, Nnamdi Emmanuel Ibezim, and Reportera.ng (a corporate entity now at large), allegedly conspired to publish defamatory false statements on their online platform, reportera.ng, targeting Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN, CON, without justification.
The offenses carry penalties under Section 27(1)(b) of the Cybercrime Prohibition, Prevention Act 2015, among other sections.
