A Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Apo, Abuja, has lifted an injunction barring ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo from publishing his autobiography, 'My Watch'.
Justice Valentine Ashi ordered on the release of the books which had been in the custody of the Nigerian Customs Service. The books were intercepted by Nigerian Customs on the strength of the court injunction which was granted on December 10, 2014.
But Justice Valentine Ash set aside the order of injunction upon an application by Obasanjo, through his lawyer, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN).
The court also ordered Nigerian Customs not to collect any demurrage on the books.
The court upheld Agabi’s argument that the applicant, a Peoples Democratic Party chief in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, who is currently pursuing a N20bn libel suit against Obasanjo in the same court, suppressed vital facts to obtain the order.
Journalists were not in court when the judge lifted the injunction on Monday as the ruling was not delivered earlier on March 30, the date originally fixed for it.
New date for the ruling was said to have been later communicated to the parties.
It would be recalled that Kashamu, had on December 10, 2014, obtained the injunction from the court through an ex parte application which he filed in his N20bn libel suit against Obasanjo.
Kashamu had anchored his prayer on the argument that part of the book related to the subject matter of the libel suit – a letter dated December 2, 2013 written by Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan.
On December 8, 2014, Justice Ashi granted an ex parte application restraining Obasanjo from publishing the book pending the determination of the libel suit.
Obasanjo went ahead to present the book to the public, an act which the court held on December 10, 2014, as contemptuous.
Following the development the court ordered security and law enforcement agencies including customs to confiscate the book anywhere it was found.
But the judge in his ruling on Obasanjo’s application on Monday upheld Agabi’s argument that the order of injunction was made wrongly.
