The Federal High Court in Abuja has struck out a contempt of court charge filed against INEC Chairman Professor Joash Amupitan after the applicants failed to personally serve the required court documents on the defendant as mandated by the rules governing contempt proceedings, bringing to an end a legal bid to have the electoral commission’s chairman jailed over allegations of disobedience to a court order.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik struck out the suit, holding that the failure to personally serve the Form 48 contempt notice on Amupitan was a fatal procedural defect that left the court with no option but to terminate the proceedings. The judge explained that since a contempt charge was semi-criminal in nature, the Form 48 notice had to be served on the alleged contemnor in person, and that where an applicant failed to take the necessary steps to advance its own case, the charge was liable to be struck out.
The contempt proceedings arose from a judgment delivered by Justice Egwuatu on March 5, 2025, in which the court ordered INEC to recognise the Edozie Njoku-led committee as the national leadership of the New Republic Movement. When INEC declined to comply with the order, the NRM initiated contempt proceedings against the then INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, by filing the requisite Forms 48 and 49.
The matter subsequently passed through several procedural twists. INEC challenged the jurisdiction of Justice Egwuatu’s court to hear the contempt application, arguing that the court before which the alleged contempt was committed was not the appropriate forum to entertain it. Justice Egwuatu recused himself from the proceedings following this challenge, returned the case file to Chief Judge of the Federal High Court Justice John Tsoho, who then re-assigned the matter to Justice Abdulmalik.
Reacting to the outcome, factional NRM National Chairman Chinedu Obi commended the court’s decision, describing it as a vindication of the legitimate leadership of the organisation. He challenged the authenticity of the Njoku-led faction’s claim to the organisation’s leadership, pointing to INEC’s official recognition of the 14-member National Executive Committee under his leadership as decisive evidence of which faction held genuine authority.
