COUNSEL for the Chief Dayo Soremiled state executive committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State, Mr Ajibola Oluyede, has faulted reports credited to the acting national chairman of the party, Alhaji Abu-bakar Kawu Baraje, denying the service of court summons on him.A Federal High Court in Lagos, on Friday, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of Baraje; the national vice chairman (South-West), Alhaji Taju-deen Oladipo; the national organising secretary, Chief Uche Secondus and the national legal adviser, Chief Olusola Oke, after the quartet failed to honour a summon on them for allegedly disobeying its orders.The court had, at the resumed trial of the suit instituted by the Soremi-led executive, on Tuesday, ordered the defence counsel, Chief Olajide Ajana, to serve the court processes, including the summons, on the party leaders. They were expected in court on Friday, but they did not show up. Hence, a bench warrant was issued against them.In a statement on Sunday, Oluyede said 'this denial flies in the face of the true fact and record available to the court. In the first place, Alhaji Baraje has been represented all throughout this suit by a counsel, Chief Olajide Ajana, who is a partner of the national legal adviser of the PDP, Chief Olusola Oke.'Chief Ajana had been appearing for the party and the national officers sued in that action, following service of the originating processes on the respon-dents, including Baraje. 'He filed a memoran-dum of appearance admi-tting service of the processes on behalf of Baraje. This same counsel was in court on Tuesday, 24 January, 2012, when the court was constrained to make the order sum-moning Baraje and other national officers of the PDP to appear in court to show cause why an order of committal should not be made against them on the basis of the allegation made against them in the pending committal proceeding.'This same committal proceeding itself was commenced by a court process which was duly served on the respondents named therein, including Baraje, in accordance with an order for substituted service. It was this court process that Ajana admitted to be in his possession and which the court ordered Chief Ajana to pass on to his clients before the next hearing date, when they were supposed to appear in court in person.'For Baraje to be saying that he was not served or that he was not aware of this proceeding or the summons served in accor-dance with the order of the court is untenable.'On the plans by the leadership of the party not to condone indiscipline, Oluyede said 'concerning the reference to indisci-pline by those who sought refuge in the judicial process and his denial of complicity in the action taken by the national vice chairman, South-West, Alhaji Oladipo, Baraje should be careful not to get himself in a further situation of contempt by any attempt or threat that would be seen by the court as an obstruction of the administration of justice.'He added that 'where-as Alhaji Baraje may be able to extricate himself from the activities of the Oladipo-led South-West zonal office of the PDP and Chief Olusola Oke, which form the basis of the pending committal pro-ceeding at the Federal High Court, by presenting his own side of the story to the court through legal representation which will not subsume his right and interest within that of the guilty officers, he may compound the situation if he relies on the same legal directorate of the party, which apparently has misled the party into this conundrum.
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