Court orders CBN boss, Emefiele, to appear November 19 over alleged contempt

 

A Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to appear before it on November 19.
The court presided by Justice Mohammed Yunusa made the order yesterday, requesting the CBN boss to come and explain why he should not be jailed for allegedly treating the court with contempt.

The order of the court was sequel to an allegation by Ecobank Nigeria Limited that Emefiele and others had been flouting a court order made on July 1, despite being duly served since July 16.
The court had earlier on October 2, ordered the service of Form 48, Notice of Consequence of Disobedience to Order of Court, on Emefiele and two other directors of the CBN, Mr. A. O. Ogundana and Mr. Dipo Fatokun.
The commercial bank had alleged that Emefiele, Ogundana and Fatokun were frustrating its move to recover a huge debt allegedly owed it by an oil-marketing firm, First Deepwater Discovery Limited.
At yesterday’s proceedings, CBN’s counsel, Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN), however, said the Form 48 had not been served on Emefiele, Ogundana and Fatokun, in any manner ordered by the judge.
Raji urged the court not to entertain the contempt proceedings yet, because there was still contention on the propriety of service. He urged the court to rather hear his application seeking to vacate the said order, which Ecobank claimed CBN had refused to obey.
“Service is very important, even in civil matter, not to talk of a quasi-criminal matter,” he said.
Reacting, bank’s counsel, Mr. Kunle Ogunba, said what was important was that Emefiele and others knew about the contempt case.
He also noted that despite being aware of the contempt case, Emefiele and others did not appear in court. He urged the judge to enforce its order to preserve the integrity of the court.
Consequently, Justice Yunusa in his ruling said an order of court was should be obeyed whether rightly or wrongly made.
He said, as ministers in the temper of justice, lawyers had the duty to advise their clients to always obey court orders.
The judge, therefore, adjourned till November 19.

credit; sun newspaper

#whatsyouropinion