A director at the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mrs. Fatima Yakubu, is facing contempt charges in the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) for allegedly violating a court order.
If convicted, she risks a two-year prison sentence for disobeying lawful court directives.
The charges were brought by four NNPC staff members, who are contributors to the NNPC Multipurpose Cooperative Society. They secured a court order under suit number FCTHC/ABJ/CV/2640/2024, which barred 14 individuals from presenting themselves as officers of the Cooperative Society.
Justice Charles Agbaza issued the order after considering an ex-parte application from the plaintiffs, preventing the defendants from making any leadership decisions within the Cooperative.
Despite the court’s order, Mrs. Yakubu, who manages the Human Resources Department, allegedly facilitated access to NNPC’s portal for the 14 defendants, enabling them to conduct a disputed election for the Cooperative’s officers.
The hearing encountered delays as two lawyers claimed the right to represent the NNPC Staff Multipurpose Cooperative Society, resulting in a contentious exchange in court. Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Anthony Malik and junior lawyer Andrew Eche both asserted their claims, prompting Malik to request time to settle the matter amicably.
Counsel for the plaintiffs, George Ibrahim SAN, argued that the defendants were in contempt and should not participate in the proceedings until they addressed this issue.
Eche referenced a previous court order requiring Olalekan Ogunbayo, the Cooperative Society’s president, to appear and clarify representation matters, which Malik opposed, fearing potential embarrassment.
In a brief ruling, Justice Agbaza adjourned the case until October 17, allowing time for the legal representation dispute to be resolved and for the substantive contempt issue to be addressed.
The plaintiffs—Eze Onwuneme, Chamberlin Ajagba, Alhaji Ibrahim Yakubu, and Bello Mohammed Garba—are seeking to invalidate the appointments of certain defendants as officers of the Cooperative and to issue injunctions against their further involvement.
