COURT DISMISSES CONTEMPT CHARGE AGAINST INEC CHAIRMAN

The Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a contempt application seeking the imprisonment of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor JOASH AMUPITAN, over alleged disobedience to a court order.

The presiding judge, Justice JOYCE ABDULMALIK struck out the case yesterday after ruling that the applicant, EDOZIE NJOKU, failed to diligently prosecute the matter in line with legal requirements.

NJOKU, who claims to be the National Chairman of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), had filed a Form 48, a notice of consequences for disobeying a court order, against the INEC chairman and asked the court to commit AMUPITAN to Kuje Correctional Centre for allegedly refusing to monitor the party’s convention.

However, the court found that NJOKUconsistently failed to personally serve the committal papers on the INEC chairman, which is a mandatory requirement in contempt proceedings. 

Reacting to the ruling, the recognized National Chairman of the NRM, CHINEDU OBI,welcomed the court’s decision, maintaining that NJOKU is not a member of the party and accused him of attempting to hijack its leadership through the courts.