Oliver Okpala, Senior Special Assistant on Public Enlightenment to the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has called for sanctions against politicians who show contempt to court orders.
He was reacting to the development that a faction of the Dawakin Tofa APC Executive Committee which announced the suspension of the APC’s National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje for the second time with no regard of a Federal High Court Order in Kano State stopping them.
His words: “It is the height of rascality and disdain to the Nigerian judicial authority for the privies of the defendant in the matter between Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje Vs. Haladu Gwanjo & 13 others to mischievously hide under the canopy of a break-away faction to make comments against the Chairman of the All Progressives Congres, APC Dr Abdullahi Ganduje.
“This is like the hiding of an ostrich, where the head is hidden inside a hole but the entire body is exposed.
“It is laughable, although it is seriously contemptuous, as such bunch of people who are known agents and privies of the defendants in suit No FHC KN CS 122 2024, are risking jail terms for going against a court order.”
According to him, when the court binds a group of people, their agents, servants or privies, to maintain status quo; the court knows why, and had contemplated that some mischief makers, could try to hide under another canopy to flout its orders.
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He furthered that there was nothing like a faction of the ward executives prior to the Court Order, meaning that they all came to court as one, and were all bound by the Court’s Order.
“Therefore, no amount of gimmicks, will make these group of people safe, from being committed to prison, for flouting the Court Order to maintain status quo; unless the people concerned desire to look the other way.
“We are not in a birthday party of children, where any one conceives any laughable idea, and comes to implement it.
“The question is, when was such a splinter group of executive of the party at Ganduje’s ward born? Is it before the Court order to maintain status quo, or after the order had been made? We all know that it was after the order had been made.
“I am not a lawyer but I know that such comments from these people are actionable. They might not escape it, if they are sued for contempt, as they have no authority or locus standi, in this scenario, to make such a statement, which were preconceived to cause embarrassment and demean the person of H.E. Abdullahi Ganduje.
“Who recognized such bunch of people as splinter to the Executive that was restrained by the Court; and did Ganduje say that he is part of the splinter, as to give them authority to sanction him?
“It is indeed unfortunate, that people are gradually losing respect for the rule of law; and I urge the Judiciary to start setting fast example with these kind of mischief makers, who think that the business of the court is a tea party”, Okpala added.
