Court Fined Atiku, Obi, Saraki, PDP ₦5m for Unauthorised Use of Trader’s Picture

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and his Campaign Director, Dr Bukola Saraki, to pay ₦5m damages to a Lagos trader, Amuda Adeleke, for unauthorised use of her photograph on their campaign billboard.
Justice Ayokunle Faji, who made the monetary award in a judgment on Monday, said the ₦5m would be jointly and severally paid by Atiku, Saraki, the PDP and Peter Obi, who was Atiku’s running mate in the poll.
In s suit marked FHC/L/CS/19, Adeleke had told the court that the defendants used her photograph on their campaign billboard without her consent.
The trader said this caused her embarrassment and she prayed the court to award ₦45m against the defendants for infringing on her fundamental right to privacy as enshrined, in the 1999 Constitution.
But after entering judgment in her favour, Justice Faji awarded ₦5m against the defendants.
In the suit, Adeleke explained that in December 2018, during the build-up to the 2019 general elections, agents of the Atiku Abubakar Campaign Organisation, led by Saraki, came to Oyin Jolayemi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos to campaign for Atiku and his running mate, Obi.
She said Saraki and his team engaged people on the street, including herself.
Adeleke said she saw members of the campaign train taking photographs during the engagement with the crowd and she thought it was merely to preserve the memory of the event