A Federal Capital Territory High Court
in Apo, Abuja, has lifted an injunction barring former President
Olusegun Obasanjo from publishing his autobiography, ‘My Watch’.
Justice Valentine Ashi ordered on the release of the books which had been in the custody of the Nigerian Customs Service.
The
books were intercepted by the Nigerian Customs on the strength of the
court injunction which was granted on December 10, 2014.
But
Justice Valentine Ash set aside the order of injunction on Monday upon
an application by Obasanjo, through his lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).
The court asked the customs not to collect demurrage on the books for the period they had overspent in their custody.
The
court upheld Agabi’s argument that the applicant, a Peoples Democratic
Party chief in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, who is currently pursuing a
N20bn libel suit against Obasanjo in the same court, suppressed vital
facts to obtain the order.
No journalist was in court when the
judge lifted the injunction on Monday as the ruling was not delivered
earlier on March 30, the date originally fixed for it.
New date for the ruling was said to have been later communicated to the parties.
Kashamu,
had on December 10, 2014, obtained the injunction from the court
through an ex parte application which he filed in his N20bn libel suit
against Obasanjo.
Kashamu had anchored his prayer on the argument
that part of the book related to the subject matter of the libel suit –
a letter dated December 2, 2013 written by Obasanjo to President
Goodluck Jonathan.
Kashamu had instituted the libel suit against
Obasanjo having been dissatisfied with his being described by the former
President in the letter which was widely published in the electronic
and print media as a fugitive wanted for drug offences in the United
States of America.
On December 8, 2014, Justice Ashi granted an
ex parte application restraining Obasanjo from publishing the book
pending the determination of the libel suit.
But Obasanjo went
ahead to present the book to the public in Lagos, an act which the court
held on December 10, 2014, as contemptuous.
Following the
development the court ordered security and law enforcement agencies
including customs to confiscate the book anywhere it was found.
The
judge in his ruling on Obasanjo’s application on Monday upheld Agabi’s
argument that the order of injunction was wrongly made.
Agabi had maintained that the court made the order without jurisdiction.
The
Senior Advocate of Nigeria said, “The single ground of this application
is that, in a case of libel, an interlocutory injunction does not lie
to restrain publication in the face of a defendant pleading
justification.
“The defendant (Obasanjo) is pleading
justification. In paragraph 24 of our counter-affidavit, the defendant
said his claim about the plaintiff is correct, true and justified from
records available in the federal court of the United States.
He
said the court had “issued without jurisdiction” adding, “The moment an
interlocutory is granted, the issue is prejudiced, fair hearing is
prejudiced.”
He also argued that the court could only validly bar
publication in a libel suit after the case of libel was proven against
the defendant.
But Kashamu’s counsel, Mr. Alex Izinyon II, urged
the court to dismiss Obasanjo’s application seeking to set aside the
December 10, 2014 order.
He said the order having been enforced
by being served on the police, Nigeria Customs Service and other
security agencies, the application had lost relevance.
He told
the court that Customs authority had recently requested a copy of the
order when its men intercepted a container-load of the order. The judge adjourned further proceedings in the matter till May 25.
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