BREAKING: Appeal Court Advances Inibehe Effiong’s Case Challenging 2022 Contempt Jail Term Imposed By Akwa Ibom Chief Judge

Effiong was imprisoned by Justice Ekaete Fabian-Obot on July 27, 2022, while defending his client in a defamation case filed by former Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The Court of Appeal in Calabar has granted leave for the advancement of an appeal filed by human rights lawyer Inibehe Effiong, seeking to overturn the one-month prison sentence imposed on him in 2022 by the Chief Judge of Akwa Ibom State for alleged contempt of court.

Effiong was imprisoned by Justice Ekaete Fabian-Obot on July 27, 2022, while defending his client in a defamation case filed by former Governor Udom Emmanuel.

During the proceedings, Effiong objected to the presence of two armed mobile policemen in the courtroom and also protested the expulsion of a Premium Times journalist. Justice Obot subsequently sentenced him to prison for contempt.

On Tuesday, a three-member panel of the Court of Appeal heard arguments from Effiong’s legal team, led by prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, on a motion seeking leave to compile and transmit the Record of Appeal out of time.

Mr. Falana appeared alongside Mba Ukweni, SAN, James Ibor, Esq., Ime Umanah, Esq., First Baba Isa, Esq., Augustine Asuquo, Esq., and other members of Effiong’s legal team.

Also present in court were the Chairman of the Calabar Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Amatey Enome, and members of the Branch’s Human Rights Committee.

Opposing the application, Mr. Ekpenyong Ntekim, a former Attorney General of Akwa Ibom State representing the state government, urged the panel to dismiss the motion, arguing that the appellant had included unnecessary documents in the Record of Appeal.

Ntekim later sought an adjournment to file a motion for the compilation of supplementary records.

The Appeal Court, however, clarified that a supplementary record cannot be compiled until the appellant’s original record is properly placed before the court.

After several attempts to delay proceedings, Ntekim withdrew his objection, and the court granted the application as prayed.

Effiong’s 2022 imprisonment, widely seen as unjust and contrary to the principles of fair hearing, drew strong criticism from the Nigerian legal community and civil society organisations, including the Nigerian Bar Association, Nigeria Labour Congress, Amnesty International, and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.

The case has been adjourned to February 16, 2026.