An Abuja High Court has found a former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, guilty of contempt, after he defied the court’s order barring him from releasing his autobiography.
Mr Obasanjo released the new book, My Watch, on Tuesday, in Lagos, days after the court order.
The court had ordered that the book launch be put on hold over claims that the three-volume series contained details of a libel case already before the court.
The case involves a drug trafficking allegation made by Mr Obasanjo against Buruji Kasahmu, a leader of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the south-west.
Mr Kashamu had approached the court, requesting for an order stopping the release of the book.
Judge Acted In Error
However, Mr Obasanjo defied the court order and proceeded with the book launch, saying the judge acted in error and deserved to be sanctioned.
The former president also said the book had already been published before the court gave its order.
Justice Valentine Ashi, in a ruling on Wednesday, gave Mr Obasanjo 21 days to demonstrate why he should not be punished for going ahead to publish the book.
The three volume book, My Watch, launched on Tuesday by the former leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, has his image on the cover.
The court also ordered the Inspector General of Police, the Director General of the State Security Service (SSS) and the Comptroller of Customs to recover all the books from all book stands, sales agents, vendors, the sea and airports and deposit them with the court’s registrar pending the determination of the case.
Mr Ashi said it was immaterial that the book was published before the interim orders were made.
He said Mr Obasanjo should not have published the book in the first place since the Kashamu case was already in court.
“Disregard Of Pendency”
“The fact that the book was published in November is …read more
