Federal High Court orders arrest and remand of Ogun State PDP leaders!

A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the police and prison authorities to arrest and remand the factional leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ogun State who were sentenced to six months imprisonment for contempt.

The three contemnors are Ireti Oniyide; the party’s former deputy governorship candidate for the 2011 election, Tunde Oladunjoye (now media aide to Agriculture Minister, Akin Adesina); and a former member of the state House of Assembly, Fasiu Bakenne, who claims to be a principal officer of a Caretaker Committee of the party in the state.

Justice Charles Archibong ordered the remand of the party chiefs on July 4 in his ruling on the committal to prison application filed by the Adebayo Dayo-led Executive Committee of the party.

The fresh application was filed to enforce the committal order following its disregard by the party chiefs.

A fresh application was subsequently granted by Archibong on Friday and was learnt to have been served on the concerned authorities to enforce the committal to prison order on Tuesday.

In granting the fresh application, the judge specifically ordered the Assistant Inspector-General of Police Zone Two, Lagos to enforce the July 4 order by “apprehending the three contemnors/convicts and delivering them to Kirikiri prison ”.

He also ordered “the Comptroller/Chief Warden of Kirikiri Prison to take custody of the three convicts/contemnors until further order of this honourable court”.

The order, which informed the conviction of the contemnors was delivered on May 2.

The court had declared that the Dayo-led executive committee was the valid management body of the party in the May 2 judgment.

The court in its July 4 ruling held that the three contemnors, being agents of the PDP, had been continually subverting the order of court by dealing with the party through other bodies aside the Dayo-led executive committee.

It had also ordered the PDP, its National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and National Secretary, Olagunsoye Oyinlola, not to deal with the party in Ogun State except through the Dayo-led executive committee.