The National Rescue Movement (NRM) has warned that it might ask the court to issue an arrest warrant against Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), because he did not appear in court.
This warning came from the NRM’s lawyer, Oladimeji Ekengba, who spoke before Justice Obiora Egwuatu at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday after Yakubu failed to attend a court hearing.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, the judge had earlier, on June 17, granted permission for the NRM to serve the contempt charge against Yakubu through substituted service.
The court gave this permission after the NRM lawyer filed a request asking that the documents be given to any INEC staff member at their national office instead of handing them directly to Yakubu.
Justice Egwuatu agreed to the request and ordered that Form 48, which warns about the punishment for ignoring a court order, be served in this way. He then set a new date for the hearing.
The NRM lawyer said that INEC and its chairman failed to obey a previous court order made on March 5. That order required them to recognize the results of an emergency party meeting that chose Chief Edozie Njoku as leader of the NRM.
He explained that the emergency meeting, which happened on January 17, was held to fill leadership positions and fix imbalances in the party’s executive committee.
When the case came up again on Friday, the NRM lawyer expressed surprise that the INEC chairman was not present, even though the case was about contempt of court, which is a criminal issue.
Yakubu’s lawyer, Alhassan Umar (SAN), told the court that they had already filed a formal objection to the case. He said the application was submitted on July 17, and because of that, the contempt case should not move forward yet.
Umar explained that the objection should be considered first before the contempt case can be heard. He said he was surprised that the NRM lawyer didn’t mention receiving their objection.
Ekengba admitted he got the objection on Thursday, but argued that in legal terms, a contempt charge takes priority and should be handled before any other issues.
He referred to a past Supreme Court ruling in the case of Ebhodaghe vs Okoye (2004) which, he said, made it clear that contempt cases must be addressed first. He added that someone who is disobeying the court should not expect help from that same court.
Ekengba said that since Yakubu was not in court and gave no explanation for his absence, he was ready to ask the judge to issue a bench warrant to force him to appear.
The judge then asked INEC’s lawyer to respond to that. Umar said that even the NRM’s lawyer admitted the case was only listed for mention, and that their objection raised important legal questions about the court’s authority.
Justice Egwuatu replied that he had already read the objection and didn’t need to go over the facts again. He stressed that no one is above the law, no matter how important they are.
The judge also said INEC should act as a neutral body and allow political parties to solve their own issues. He warned that ignoring court orders makes the legal system look weak.
Finally, the judge postponed the case to October 8 for a proper hearing.
