By Jonathan Elendu
The Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, may be jailed by an FCT High Court any moment from now.
Mahmood, who has garnered notoriety for his wanton disobedience of court judgments is awaiting the ruling and judgment of FCT High Court 40, Bwari, for Contempt of Court.
The committal order may come any moment as the presiding judge, Justice Mohammed Madugu adjourned for ruling/judgement on Wednesday October 18th, 2023.
According to an onlne newspaper, NEWS BAND, “Justice Mohammed Madugu of High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting in Bwari, has reserved Ruling and Judgment on a preliminary objection seeking the dismissal of a motion seeking to commit Professor Yakubu Mahmood (INEC Chairman) and Chief Victor Oye to prison for disobeying a valid court order.
The motion marked M/10786/2023, was filed by Micheal Ajara, on behalf of the applicants, Otunba Camaru Lateef Ogidan (National Vice Chairman, South West Geopolitical Zone, APGA) and Mustapha Rabiu (National Welfare Officer), who emerged at the APGA Owerri Convention of May 31, 2019, under the leadership of Chief Edozie Njoku, the National Chairman of APGA.
In opposing the motion, Victor Agunzi, counsel to Oye (1st respondent) said his objection which came by way of a notice, urged the court to strike out or dismiss the motion for being defective and grossly incompetent, adding that the court lacked jurisdiction to entertain same.
Victor Agunzi stated; “It will amount to judicial impertinence for this court to entertain the motion fully aware that there is a competent leave to stay from the Appeal Court on the Contempt Charges.
Agunzi argued that the motion for committal was filed and served before Forms 48 and 49 were served on them.
Agunzi urged Justice Madugu to recuse himself from hearing the matter, on the strength of a petition before the Chief Judge of High Court of the FCT, accusing the presiding judge of being biased.”
Bar. Victor Agunzi ended his submission with the following words: “Your Lordship, if you recuse yourself heavens will not fall!”
Earlier, Agunzi had sought for an indefinite adjournment pending the hearing of an appeal filed by Victor Oye, challenging the May 10, 2023 Order and final judgement of the court, which is the subject matter of the committal proceeding.
In response Bar. Michael Ajara told the court that Bar. C. I. Mbaeri acting on the instruction of Chief Victor Oye had approached the Appeal Court, Abuja on interlocutory appeal on June 8, 2023, seeking for leave to vacate the orders of the court, but lost the application.
Bar. Ajara tendered The Certified True Copy of the decision of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division dated June 8, 2023, in suit CA/ABJ/CV/582/2023 which was struck out.
He informed the Court that the effect of the Appeal being struck out because it was defective and therefore had to be withdrawn by the lawyers, is that they could not have appealed to the Supreme Court, hence there is no pending appeal.
Ajara submitted that having come by way of a notice of preliminary objection, Agunzi’s affidavit, further affidavit, and all exhibits he filed should be discountenanced.
On issue of the applicants’ motion being incompetent and defective, Ajara urged the court to look at its record.
“The 1st Respondent’s lawyer is not allowed to speak from both sides of the mouth. Before this court, he confirmed that they are in receipt of Forms 48 and 49, filed and served on them.
“This court ordered that they be served through newspaper publication. The 1st Respondent’s lawyer was in court and acknowledged receipt of the Forms.
“But his argument was that the motion was not legible enough. It was then that the court graciously granted an application for the applicant to serve counsel to the 1st Respondent with the motion” Ajara told the court.
Ajara informed Justice Madugu that the Applicant’s counsel served Agunzi with all the processes on the 9th of October despite evading service.
Refering to Agunji’s petition against Justice Madugu to the Chief Judge of FCT High Court, Ajara told the court that Agunzi in his letter, copiously acknowledged the existence of the processes and even raised issues on them.
“In his letter of September 8, asking for an adjournment, counsel to the 1st Respondent still raised issues on the processes, Ajara said, stressing that the conduct of the respondent was calculated to overreach the applicant.
Ajara, therefore, submitted that the motion of the Applicant dated June 13 and filed on the 14th is competent and that due process was followed before they were filed, adding that the court has jurisdiction to hear the motion.
On the issue that court should recuse itself, Ajara said “As Ministers in the temple of justice, who should preserve the sanctity of the court, I wouldn’t have joined issues with Agunzi, but for the fact that the said letter addressed to the Chief Justice of FCT High Court on July 10, 2023, was copied to us. We also wrote to the CJ to address the issue.
“Agunzi did not state the position of the CJ” and that is why we will not speak more on the issue.
On the purported appeal and request for an indefinite adjournment, Ajara said it appeared the counsel mixed up issues.
He explained that the motion for committal was against the Order of court made on 10 May, 2023 and not the judgement of court delivered on June 6, 2023.
“Immediately, the order of court was made, the 1st respondent appealed, but on June 8, 2023, the appeal was struck out and no other appeal has been made to the Supreme Court.
Ajara said that aside the May 10 order, the judgement of June 6, “is declaratory which cannot be stayed and that is why the respondent has not filed any application for stay of execution.
The Court took Agunzi’s preliminary objection and Ajara’s motion for committal charges and reserved ruling and judgment and adjourned to a later date to be communicated to the parties.
INEC’s lawyers had appeared before this same judge soon after forms 48 and 49 were served on their Chairman and pledged that the Commission would immediately obey the Supreme Court judgement of March 24th, 2023 which reaffirmed Edozie Njoku as the national chairman of APGA.
Since making that pledge before Justice Mohammed Madugu, INEC and its officers have continued to align with the embattled former chairman of APGA, Victor Oye, in their court appearances.
Two senior staff of INEC’s legal department who spoke to our reporter on the condition of anonymity were perplexed at the trend of the matter.
“Everyone in the Commission knows that Mahmood has something against Edozie Njoku but whatever it is, no one knows. We can only speculate. But whatever it is, Mahmood is willing to risk going to jail for it?” asked one of them.
“What can he have against Njoku other than the man is pursuing his legitimate rights? So, because of Mahmood’s intransigence the whole Commission would be further disgraced before Nigerians? That’s not how to lead,” the second officer concluded.
Elendureportsonline.com sought to find out the reason for the INEC Chairman’s penchant for disobeying Court orders from a long-time friend and colleague of Mahmood.
“I can tell you that the INEC chairman is not the Mahmood who used to be my friend. The man has changed. Especially with the APGA leadership crisis, the man has shown his hand many times and I must confess I’m appalled and disgusted by it.”
Reacting to the development in the FCT High Court, the founder and first national chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Chief Chekwas Okorie said, “It is only Oye that did not see that his imprisonment was imminent. Mahmood still has a slim chance of purging himself of contempt of court by recognizing Chief Edozie Njoku as the National Chairman of APGA along with other members of the National Working Committee, without further delay, failing which his career will end with ignominy and utter disgrace.
