A federal high court sitting in
Abuja has insisted on the arrest of Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), a day after its arrest order was halted.
The Abuja division of the appeal
court ordered stay of execution of the order on Monday, following a motion
filed by Yakubu challenging it.
At its sitting on Monday, the
appellate court had ordered that the matter be put on hold pending the outcome
of Yakubu’s initial appeal in the case.
Stephen Pam, the judge of the
federal high court, had issued the warrant after the INEC chairman failed to
appear before him for the third consecutive time.
Yakubu had been asked to appear
and defend a case filed against him by Ejike Oguebego and Chuks Okoye,
chairman, and legal adviser of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra
state, respectively.
He challenged the arrest order at
the appellate court on the grounds that there is an existing appeal before the
court challenging the federal high court’s decision to summon him.
In a ruling by its three-man
panel, the court of appeal said it would be prejudicial for the court to
proceed with the hearing of the case since the original appeal filed against
the summon is yet to be determined.
But when it resumed sitting on
Tuesday, the federal high court insisted on the execution of the arrest warrant
on the grounds that there is no evidence of the order halting the arrest.
Adegboyega Awomolo, Yakubu’s
counsel, was not in court at the commencement of the sitting, but arrived while
the judge was delivering his ruling.
“The counsel for the respondent
is not in court and no reason has been given for their absence,” Pam said.
“The contempt proceedings and the
bench warrant issued for the arrest of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman
still subsists, the I-G is to carry out the order of the arrest of Yakubu.
“This court being a court of
record has nothing to prove that there was an order for stay from the Court of
appeal.”
He subsequently adjourned the
matter till August 16.
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