The Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt has upheld the fine imposed on popular Nigerian On-Air Personality, Ifedayo Olarinde, also known as Daddy Freeze, for committing adultery.
A High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, had on February 18, 2021, ordered Daddy Freeze to pay N5 million for committing adultery with Benedicta Elechi. He was ordered to pay the money to Paul Odekina, who was married to Elechi at the time.
The court also dissolved the marriage between Paul and Benedicta due to her adulterous act with Daddy Freeze. Not satisfied with the High Court’s judgment, Daddy Freeze approached the appellate court for redress.
His main grounds of appeal were that Odekina did not attempt to serve him personally before applying for substituted service, which violates Order 7 Rule 2 of the Rules of the Trial Court. He also argued that the purported service by substituted means (i.e., by courier) was ineffective, violating the principle of natural justice.
In the Certified True Copy of the judgment dated June 26, 2024, obtained by our correspondent on Friday, the three-man panel of Justices Abubakar Talba, Danlami Senchi, and Hannatu Balogun dismissed Daddy Freeze’s appeal for lack of merit.
The court ruled that if the appellant wanted to overturn the trial court’s judgment due to non-service, he should have filed a counter-affidavit against the affidavit of service and then sought to set aside the trial court’s judgment.
“Affidavit evidence can only be countered by a counter-affidavit. As such, I found the procedure adopted by the appellant alien to our jurisprudence. Where the appellant wants the judgment of the trial court to be set aside for non-service, he ought to have approached the trial court by filing a counter-affidavit against the affidavit of service he seeks to set aside and consequently set aside the judgment of the trial court. Thus, as it is in the instant appeal, there is nothing filed by the appellant to counter the affidavit of service of the process server filed in.
“Hence, therefore, I resolved the sole issue for determination against the appellant and in favour of the respondents. The appeal therefore lacks merit and it is hereby dismissed. Accordingly, the judgment of the Rivers State High Court in Suit No. PHC/403MC/2012 delivered on the 18th February 2021 by J. Akpughunum, is hereby affirmed. I make no order as to costs.”
According to the CTC of the judgment, Ola Faro and Ikobah Hilton appeared for the appellant, while N.A. Naenwi and Wilcox Abereton (SAN) represented the first and second respondents respectively.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
