THE Federal High Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has ordered the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to arrest the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, for contempt of court and disobedience of lawful orders.
News Point Nigeria reports that the order was issued on Monday by Justice Funmilola Demi-Ajayi in a suit filed by the Action Alliance (AA) against INEC.
Justice Demi-Ajayi ruled that both Professor Yakubu and the electoral commission erred by failing to comply with an earlier judgment directing them to recognize all state chairmen elected under the Adekunle Rufai Omoaje-led National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party.
The Action Alliance, through its counsel K.O. Etibo, had applied for Forms 48 and 49, seeking the committal of the INEC chairman to prison for what it described as flagrant disobedience of the court’s orders.
The court agreed with the application, ruling that Yakubu’s refusal to honour the directive amounted to contempt.
In addition to ordering his arrest, Justice Demi-Ajayi imposed a ₦100,000 cost against the INEC chairman. She further directed INEC and Yakubu to restore the names of all the Omoaje-led state chairmen to the commission’s portal within seven days or face police enforcement.
The judge stressed that the national convention that produced Omoaje as National Chairman, held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, was valid since it was duly monitored by INEC officials and conducted in line with both the party’s constitution and the Electoral Act.
Justice Demi-Ajayi noted that the refusal of INEC and its chairman to abide by the subsisting judgment undermined the rule of law and amounted to a deliberate act of impunity.
More details shortly…
