A director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Fatima Yakubu, has been charged with contempt of court for allegedly violating an order issued by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court.
The contempt case was brought against Ms Yakubu by four NNPC employees who contribute to the NNPC Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society.
The employees – Eze Onwuneme, Chamberlin Ajagba, Ibrahim Yakubu, and Bello Garba -alleged that Ms Yakubu violated an earlier court order barring 14 members of the cooperative’s leadership from holding themselves out as officers.
The order was issued by the judge, Charles Agbaza, following an ex-parte application by the employees.
According to court filings, despite the court’s explicit instructions, Ms Yakubu, who heads NNPC’s Human Resources Department, allegedly provided the NNPC’s internal portal to the 14 individuals, allowing them to carry out an election for cooperative officers in defiance of the court’s injunction.
The contempt proceedings got stalled on Wednesday due to a dispute between two lawyers, Anthony Malik, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), and Andrew Eche, over who should represent the NNPC Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society. Both lawyers claimed to be the legitimate counsel for the cooperative, leading to a heated exchange in open court.
Mr Malik requested additional time to resolve the issue with Mr Eche outside the courtroom.
However, the lawyer to the plaintiffs, George Ibrahim (SAN), intervened, arguing that the 14 individuals “are in contempt and cannot have any say until they have purged themselves of the contempt.”
Mr Eche responded by pointing to a previous court order that required Olalekan Ogunbayo, the cooperative’s president, to appear in court to clarify who had the authority to represent the group. Mr Ogunbayo was present in court on Wednesday.
However, Mr Malik objected to this step, stating that it could “lead to ridicule and embarrassment” and insisted that the matter should be resolved privately with Mr Eche.
The judge, in a brief ruling, adjourned the case until 17 October, giving time for the legal representation issue to be settled and for the substantive case to move forward.
The defendants in the suit include Josiah Omole, Udo Iboro, Ituah Aikhena, Osondu Ibeji, Farouk Achimugu, Prince Etuwewe, and many others, alongside the NNPC Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society itself.
The plaintiffs are seeking an order to nullify the appointment of the 2nd and 3rd defendants as president and general secretary, respectively, of the cooperative.
They are also requesting an injunction to prevent the 14 defendants from “parading themselves as Management Committee of the 16th Defendant.”
Additionally, they are asking the court to permanently restrain the NNPC cooperative from recognising or giving effect to the purported leadership.