Obasanjo Gets Court’s Nod To Publish My Watch
Justice Valentine Ashie of a Federal Capital Territory High Court sitting in Apo, Abuja has granted an order permitting former President Olusegun Obasanjo to go ahead with the publication of his book, My Watch. The trial judge, while delivering his ruling on Wednesday, held that the existing order dated December 10, 2014 restraining the author of the book from publishing was obtained by the plaintiff with the intention of concealing and suppressing vital facts. Justice Ashie also ordered that the Nigerian Customs Service should not collect demurrage on the seized books currently in its custody. The court had on December 8, 2014 granted an order restraining Obasanjo from going on with plans to publish or have someone publish on his behalf his new autobiography, My Watch. The request for the order was made by a member of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State, Buruji Kashamu, in an ex parte application. The court restrained the former President from publishing the book pending the determination of the libel suit instituted against him. The content of the book was said to be related to a letter dated December 2, 2013, written by Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan, claiming that Kashamu was wanted for drug-related crime in the United States of America. His lawyer, Alex Iziyon, had argued that since part of the content of the autobiography related to the December 2, 2013 letter, which is the subject matter of the libel suit, it was wrong for Obasanjo to be allowed to proceed to comment on, write books about or make publications on the issue yet to be decided by the court. Justice Ashi, in his ruling, restrained Obasanjo from either publishing the book or have it published on his behalf by anybody, pending the determination of the main suit. The court order read in part: “The defendant, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, whether by himself, his agents, servants, privies or any other person by whatever name called and howsoever described, is hereby restrained from publishing or caused to be published in the yet to be published book, ‘My Watch’ or any autobiography or biography and any extracts of same, by whatever name called or howsoever titled, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice hereof.” The judge further restrained Obasanjo and his agents “from further writing, printing, publishing or causing to be published or printed or circulated, or otherwise, publishing of and concerning the plaintiff, the statement contained in the Daily Sun (pages 47-49) and The Leadership (pages 3 to 8) newspapers of December 12, 2013, and which statements are alleged to have reproduced the letter written by the defendant to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, titled: ‘Before it is too late’ or similar statements pending the determination of the motion on notice”. But the judge also directed Kashamu to enter into a bond with the Chief Registrar of the court for damages he would pay should the order restraining Obasanjo from publishing the book turned out to be something the court ought not to have been granted. The judge asked the applicant to “execute a bond with the Registrar of the court to pay such damages as shall be assessed should it turn out that the order ought not to have been granted in the first place”. The matter has been adjourned to May 26, 2015 for the hearing of the substantive suit.
