Judge Jails Lawyer For 3 Months Over Contempt

A LAGOS High Court Judge, Justice J. Williams has sentenced a senior lawyer, Adebayo Jegede to three months’ imprisonment for contempt.

The legal practitioner with 35 years post-call experience got the conviction for being rude to Justice Okunnu-Shuaib of Ikeja High Court while defending his own matter in her court.

Jegede was a defendant in a suit where he acted in his own defence but he failed to file a defence in the matter, which had suffered a series of adjournments.

After the case had been adjourned on several occasions due to his absence in court and refusal to file a defence, Justice Okunnu gave her judgment, which favored the claimants.

But Jegede filed an application to set aside the alleged default judgment that was supported by a 28-paragraph affidavit.

However, the averments in the affidavit were what resulted in the charge of contempt preferred against him.

According to him, Justice Okunnu in view of the preponderance of evidence before her on my ownership of No 8, Maye Street Yaba, recklessly departed from the path of justice by delivering a tailored feeble judgment in my absence in the suit on June 19, 2006.”

He stated that, “the judge heard an application for judgment against me in the suit in my absence without giving me the opportunity of being heard before the pronouncement of her reckless and feeble summary judgment.”

Jegede noted that “the judge is a complete failure in her capacity as a judge to adjudicate further on the dispute and her special interest in the suit had qualified her to be an unfit and improper person to dispense justice on the matter in view of her relationship to the 1st claimant.”

He also wrote a petition to the National Judicial Council (NJC) complaining about Justice Okunnu but the council responded, stating that the petition lacked merit and that the judge had done her work in accordance with the rules of court.

This led to the state preferring a charge of contempt based on Section 133(4) and (9) of the Criminal Code Law Cap C17 Laws of Lagos State 2003 while the law firm of Olaniwun Ajayi LP was given the fiat of the attorney-General of Lagos State to prosecute the matter on his behalf.

Jegede also defended himself in the case and in his final address described his words as merely strong comments and stated that if Justice Okunnu was scandalized by the words, she had the option of suing him.

Meanwhile, Justice Williams in his judgment convicted Jegede, saying that as a senior lawyer, he ought to have known better.