Court lifts ban on Obasanjo’s autobiography, My Watch

A Federal Capital Territory High
Court in Abuja has lifted the
injunction barring former President
Olusegun Obasanjo from publishing
his autobiography, My Watch.
The same court had in December
2014 ordered law enforcement
agencies to confiscate the three-
volume book when it was
discovered that it had been
published before the order was
made.
But on Tuesday, Justice Valentine
Ashi of the FCT High Court ordered
the release of seized copies of the
book from the custody of the
Nigerian Customs Service to
Obasanjo.
He set aside the order of
injunction upon an application by
Obasanjo’s lawyer, Kanu Agabi
(SAN).
The court asked the Customs not to
collect demurrage on the book for
the period it had overspent in their
custody.
The court upheld Agabi’s argument
that the applicant, Buruji Kashamu,
suppressed vital facts to obtain the
order.
Kashamu , a Peoples Democratic
Party Senator-elect, is pursuing a
N20bn libel suit against Obasanjo in
the court .
No journalist was in court when the
judge lifted the injunction on
Tuesday. The ruling was to have
been delivered on March 30 but
was deferred and a new date
(Tuesday) 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 the
N20bn libel suit against Obasanjo.
Kashamu had anchored his prayer
on the argument that some parts 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 suit
against Obasanjo for describing
him as a fugitive wanted for drug
offences in the United States.
Obasanjo’s letter to Jonathan was
widely published in the electronic
and print media.
On December 5, 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 Tuesday
upheld Agabi’s argument that the
order of injunction was wrongly
made.
Agabi, a former Attorney-General of
the Federation and Minister of
Justice, had maintained that the
court made the order outside of its
jurisdiction.
He 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 US.
The former minister, who is also a
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said the
court had “issued the order without
jurisdiction.”
“The moment an interlocutory
injunction is granted, the issue is
prejudiced, fair hearing is
prejudiced,” he said, arguing also
that the court could only validly bar
publication in a libel suit after the
case of libel had been proved
against the defendant.
But Kashamu’s counsel, Alex
Iziyon, urged the court to dismiss
Obasanjo’s application seeking to
set aside the December 10, 2014
order.
He argued that since the order had
been enforced by Customs, the
police and other security
agencies, the application had lost
its relevance.
Iziyon told the court that Customs
authorities had recently requested
a copy of the order when their men
intercepted a container-load of the
book.
The judge adjourned further
proceedings in the matter till May
25.

good one dere....!

Baba na baba

Nah so

who be baba!

Obasanjo

hmm,, Obasanjo

aneke peter chukwujekwu wrote:

who be baba!

So u never no?

delafirst wrote:

hmm,, Obasanjo

Yeah

Twogoods wrote:

aneke peter chukwujekwu wrote:

who be baba!

So u never no?

He is a ghaniam, he may not know.

Twogoods wrote:

aneke peter chukwujekwu wrote:

who be baba!

So u never no?

That OBJ is the baba that is bigger then babalawo

Nah true u yarn

baba God...

Friday, April 17, 2015
Car Crash Kills Nigerian Musician And His
Wife
The Ijaw music industry is mourning, as a
road accident claimed one of its members,
Mr. Augustine Kemepade, 38; his wife,
Fortune and their friend, Mr. Okumagba
Akieyefa, 37, Monday night along DSC
expressway on their way from Aladja, Udu
Council Area of Delta State. The death of the
famous musician shocked to the Ijaw music
industry as he just released his latest album.
A source who confirmed the incident told
Vanguard on telephone that the incident
occurred after their friend’s car
sommersaulted while returning from Aladja.
He said the late musician hailed from
Ogbinama community, while his wife was a
native of Kiagbodo community, and his late
friend, Okumagba Akieyefa hailed from
Obotebe community, all in Burutu Council
Area of Delta State. He said: “The three
occupants of the vehicle died on the spot
after it summersaulted several times and
rammed into an electric pole at about
9.20pm on Aladja/DSC expressway.” Our
source added that the Ijaw musician
accompanied by his wife had gone to visit a
friend at Aladja on that faithful day in
celebration of the yuletide. He said after
much fun, the late couple decided to head
back to Warri, but their host insisted that
the couple spend the night with him but
they refused. Okumagba Akieyefa, owner of
the ill-fated car, decided to give them a lift
through Aladja/DSC expressway when the
ugly incident occurred. Comrade Ozobo
Austin, National President of the Ijaw People
Development Initiative, IPDI, reacting to the
sad news said he was shocked by the death
of the trio. Source: Vanguard