…..Ondo Lawyer, Emodamori files Contempt proceedings against INEC top officials
UNVEILING THE CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS TO JAIL INEC CHAIRMAN AND ONDO REC OVER FAILURE TO PUBLISH THE AUDITED ACCOUNTS OF POLITICAL PARTIES
Nigerians would recall that in a landmark judgment delivered on 17/4/2024 in Suit FHC/AK/CS/72/2023, Hon. Justice T.B Adegoke of the Akure Judicial Division of the Federal High Court granted an Order of Mandamus compelling INEC to publish the 2021 and 2022 Audited Financial Statements of all the registered political parties in Nigeria, as well as their separate Audited 2023 election related incomes and expenses.
The judgement also directed that the commission should make copies of same available to me (the claimant) within 14 days from the Judgment, in line with Section 225(1)-(2) and Paragraph 15(d) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Section 89(3), (4), (5) and (8) of the Electoral Act, 2022 and Section 1(3) of the Freedom of Information Act, 2011.
Regrettably, over five months thereafter, and despite her sanctimonious commitment to transparency and accountability in our electoral process, INEC has failed to comply with the Judgment.
This, to me, does not only constitute an affront to the rule of law and the authority of the Court, but a clear confirmation of INEC’s duplicity and complicity in aiding or shielding political parties which violate our electoral laws by receiving dubious funds and possibly using the same process to launder some ill-gotten wealth.
I have therefore commenced proceedings to jail the INEC Chairman (Professor Mahmood Yakubu) and the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (Oluwatoyin Babalola) for contempt of Court.
My legal team had earlier filed and served the requisite Notice of Consequences of Disobedience to the Order of the Court (Form 48) on INEC and her two principal officials named above, and have just filed the Notice to Show Cause (Form 49) why they should not be jailed for contempt.
We are now expecting the court to fix a date for hearing the contempt charges. As I have repeatedly stated, we cannot sincerely talk about fighting corruption, until we first beam our searchlights on how political parties are funded in Nigeria, and the reciprocal patronage, access to national treasury or ‘dividends’ granted to such political ‘investors’, usually at the expense of our collective national interests.
INEC can also not claim to be above board, when it lacks the courage to investigate and publish the accounts of such parties for public information as expressly required under our laws.
E-signed
Femi Emmanuel Emodamori
(An Akure-based Lawyer in Ondo State)
30th September, 2024.
