Amuda Adeleke, a Lagos-based trader, has secured an N5 million judgment against Atiku Abubakar; the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 general elections; as well as his campaign director and former Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Peter Obi, the vice-presidential candidate, and the PDP over the unauthorized use of her photograph on their campaign billboard.
Equally important, the judgment was delivered by a Lagos State High Court on Monday, April 27, 2020.
Delivering the judgment, Ayokunle Faji, the presiding judge who gave the monetary award to the aggrieved woman; stated that the N5 million would be jointly and severally paid by Atiku, Saraki, the PDP and Obi; who was Atiku’s running mate during the election.
Amuda Adeleke, the plaintiff, had secured the judgment after filing a fundamental rights enforcement suit against the defendants. Specifically, she stated, in the suit filed through her lawyer, Kingsley Iheakaram; that the defendants used her photograph on their campaign billboard without seeking her consent.
As a matter of fact, Amuda Adeleke had explained that in December 2018, during the build-up to the 2019 elections; agents of the Atiku Abubakar Organisation, led by Saraki, came to Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos where she resides. She affirmed that they were there to campaign and mobilize support for the PDP candidates, Atiku and Obi. Thereafter, she disclosed that the campaigners including Saraki and his team engaged people on the street, including herself.
Additionally, Amuda Adeleke revealed that she saw the campaigners taking photographs during the engagement with the crowd.
According to her, she saw it as a harmless exercise and paid no heed to it. Subsequently, she told the court that she had been shocked and sufficiently embarrassed when she later started receiving phone calls; mainly from friends, relatives, and associates who drew her attention to her image on the PDP’s campaign billboards.
Equally important, Amuda Adeleke affirmed that these billboards were spotted in Lagos, Abuja and other parts of the country. She stated that those who called her disclosed that the image portrayed her as a poverty-stricken woman; one who had lost hope and appeared ready to commit suicide.
Indeed, the plaintiff told the court that the unauthorized use of her image in that manner had embarrassed her immensely. Consequently, she had urged the court to award her damages to the tune of N45m against the defendants; basically for infringing on her fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.
However, Justice Faji gave judgment in her favor and subsequently awarded N5 million only against the defendants.
