The Akwa Ibom State Government has filed a counter affidavit at the Court of Appeal in Calabar, Cross River State, opposing an appeal filed by a Nigerian lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, against his conviction for contempt by a State High Court in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, PremiumTimes reports.

Mr Effiong, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer, was on 27 July 2022, sentenced to 30 days imprisonment over what the trial judge, Ekaette Obot, described as “unruly behaviour.”

Justice Obot is the chief judge of Akwa Ibom State.

The rights lawyer had in August 2022, filed an appeal, asking the appellate court to set aside his conviction for contempt.

In the appeal, his lawyer, Femi Falana, raised nine grounds which he said the trial judge erred in convicting and sentencing the appellant.

Mr Falana, SAN, in his appeal, stated that the facts relied upon by Justice Obot as “constituting contempt of court do not constitute contempt in any material particular.”

He further stated that Mr Effiong’s conviction was a breach of his right for fair hearing, adding that Justice Obot was the accuser, the prosecutor, and the judge, an action he said violates Section 36(1) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The suit was scheduled for hearing on Monday but the appellate court did not sit, Mr Effiong said in a post on X.

“I filed the appeal in 2022 and it was supposed to come up today, 18th March, 2024 for the first time regularisation of the record of appeal which I filed out of time due to administrative challenges.

“Today, we were notified that the Akwa Ibom State Government has filed a counter affidavit to oppose my motion for extension of time to regularise the record of appeal. They do not even want the appeal to be heard on merits at all,” he wrote on the microblogging platform.

The Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State, Uko Udom, did not respond to requests for comment on the matter when contacted.

Backstory

Mr Effiong had appeared before the Akwa Ibom Chief judge, Mrs Obot to defend his client, Leo Ekpenyong, in a defamation case in which the former governor, Mr Emmanuel is the claimant.

Justice Obot, in her judgment, ordered the defendant to pay N1.5 billion to Mr Emmanuel as general damages for libel.

In another defamation case, the court ordered Mr Ekpenyong to pay N150 million as damages to a former senator, Effiong Bob.

Both judgments were given on 15 December 2020 by Justice Obot before she later became the chief judge. She continued with the case after her appointment as a chief judge.

Mr Ekpenyong later hired Mr Effiong to challenge the two judgments, and the rights lawyer successfully persuaded the court to set aside the two judgments and grant permission for extension of time for the case to be heard on merit, an application the judge granted.

After the two judgments were set aside, Mr Effiong asked the chief judge to recuse herself from the case, arguing that his client has lost confidence in her, since she had already convicted him in the case. The judge turned down the request.

Mr Effiong, on 27 July 2022 hearing, objected to the presence of two armed police officers, brought into the court on the order of the chief judge.

The judge had before committing the lawyer to prison, ordered the arrest of a PREMIUM TIMES reporter for covering the court case without her permission.

Justice Obot had in the court proceedings released after she was sued said, she committed the lawyer to 30 days in prison for his “unruly behaviour.”

The lawyer’s incarceration had triggered condemnation across the country.

Several civil society groups staged a protest in Uyo, the state capital, demanding his release.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had faulted the procedure employed by Justice Obot in jailing the lawyer.