By Fredrick Nwanji

Yesterday (9th of January 2020) the news was published by newspapers in the county that Olusegun Runsewe, the Director-General of Nigeria’s National Council For Arts and Culture (NCAC), was jailed. The news came as a shock to ordinary Nigerians seeing as there was no prior indication that the DG NCAC was being charged or arraigned for an offence. Well, contrary to popular belief, and as provided under Nigeria’s Laws, you don’t necessarily need to be charged or accused with an offence before you get sentenced to prison. A sitting Nigerian judicial officer has the power to commit you to prison. This article aims at highlighting this issue.

Let’s proceed.

Criminal Contempt

The dictionary meaning of the word contempt is synonymous with insult or disregard. It indicates showing no respect for a person or something more abstract, like an idea or principle. In law, Contempt means showing, either by your words or actions, a lack of respect for the Court of law.

There are two types of Contempt, Ex-facie Contempt (Contempt committed outside the court) and In-facie curiae Contempt (Contempt committed inside the court). For this article, I will be dealing primarily with the former, Ex-facie Contempt.

As opposed to In-facie curiae Contempt (e.g., insulting the Judge or magistrate, answering calls inside a courtroom while the Judge is sitting), Ex-facie Contempt is broad and subjective. A specific instance of Ex-facie Contempt is refusing to obey a court order. An example is a Judge making an order that none of the parties contesting ownership of a property to go into the said property. If any of the parties disobeys the order of the Judge, that party becomes held in Contempt of the court.

How Does This Relate To The Jailed D.G. NCAC?

A brief history of the facts is required.

On the 15th of December 2017, Justice Sadiq Umar in the case of Ummakalif Limited VS Minister of the FCT, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), Runsewe, NCAC and Minister for Culture and Tourism as first, second, third and fourth defendants made a court order asking the parties in the suit to stay (suspend) proceedings on every activity concerning the demolition of the Arts and Craft village located in the Central Business District area of the FCT.

It would seem that sometime between when the court order of 2017 was made and 2019, the DG NCAC, Olusegun Runsewe, disobeyed the 2017 court order made by Justice Sadiq Umar. The applicants (Ummakalif Limited) aggrieved by this development decided to file a motion in court, essentially asking the court to punish the D.G. for disobeying the earlier court order.

The action of the DG NCAC invariably constitutes Ex – facie Contempt as disobeying an order or instruction of the court is a specific example.

What is the punishment for Contempt?

The punishment for Contempt varies, and it’s at the discretion of the Judge that gives the order. In the case of the DG NCAC, Justice Jude Okeke when giving his order for the committal of the DG NCAC, said: “the court, therefore, sentences Olusegun Runsewe to prison at the Kuje Correctional Center until he purges himself of the contempt of court order made on the 15th of December, 2017.”

After giving this ruling, Justice Okeke then ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to enforce the order.

As it stands, Olusegun Runsewe the DG of NCAC will have to enjoy some time at the Kuje prisons Abuja, and maybe this would teach him not to disobey Court orders in the future.

Hon. Justice Jude Okeke

I’m Fredrick Nwanji and i’m a Lawyer.

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