9th March, 2011
The contempt proceedings initiated against Chief Molade Okoya-Thomas and eight others, Alhaji M.O Anibaba, Chief A. Adejumo, Prof. John Godwin, Mr. Francis Akinyanmi, Jide Oki, Yanju Scott, Prof Adele Jinadu and Eugene Okon has been adjourned till 17 March.
All the alleged contemnors were in court except Chief Adejumo and Prof. Adele Jinadu.
The contempt proceedings arouse out of a suit instituted by one of the members of Island Club, Oladipupo Akerele against the trustees of the club, the chairman, Chief Femi Adeniyi Williams and the secretary of the club, Oluwole Iyamu.
In the judgement, the court ordered that the management committee of the club should continue to run its affairs until an annual general meeting was held and new one was elected.
The court also restrained the chairman from unilaterally running the affairs of the club as the sole administrator.
The alleged contemnors prevented the management of the club from functioning and discharging their duties.
They wrote the bankers of the club that the management committee of the club had been dissolved. And they claimed to have the power to disburse club funds in defiance of the management committee.
They were also alleged to have purportedly dissolved the duly constituted electoral committee of the club and instead constituted a parallel body called Interim Electoral Committe and mandated same to take over and conduct elections of the new management committee of Island Club.
They were also alleged to have undermined the decision of half yearly general meeting of the Island club held on 29 October, 2010.
It was on the basis of the alleged disobedience of the court order that an order of committal was being sought against the alleged nine contemnors for their continued disobedience of the order of the court pursuant to the judgement delivered on 8 October, 2010 by Justice Mohammed Idris.
—Akin Kuponiyi