Court Finds Obasanjo Guilty of Contempt for Publishing Autobiography

ExPresident Olusegun Obasanjo
Gets 21 days to show cause why he should not
be punished
Orders IGP, DG, DSS, Customs boss to
confiscate books
Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
An Abuja High Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2,
Abuja, Wednesday held that former President
Olusegun Obasanjo was in contempt of court
for flouting its orders restraining him from,
among others, publishing his autobiography,
"My Watch."
Justice Valentine Ashi, in a ruling Wednesday,
gave Obasanjo 21 days (from the day of service
of the court's orders on him) to show cause
why he should not be punished for contempt
for going ahead to publish the book in spite of
the ex-parte interim order made by the court
on December 5 and a pending libel suit before
the court involving him.
The judge restrained the former president from
further publishing, printing or offering for sale,
the book, My Watch, whose content touched on
the subject matter before the court.
Justice Ashi also ordered the Inspector General
of Police (IGP), the Director General of the
Department of State Services (DG, DSS) and the
Comptroller of Customs to recover the
published book from all book stands, sales
agents, vendors, the sea and airports and
deposit them with his court's registrar pending
the determination of the substantive suit."
Detas later