The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday urged a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja to commit the party's factional chairman, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, to prison for alleged contempt of court.

It urged the court to also jail the faction's National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Deputy National Chairman, Dr Sam Jaja.

The party wants the court to jail them for a minimum of one year each for allegedly committing criminal contempt.

The motion on notice for committal of the alleged contemnors, filed yesterday, was brought pursuant to Order 35 of the Federal High Court Rules 2009.

PDP's lawyer Mr Ajibola Oluyede, who made the court processes available to reporters at a news conference in Lagos, said he was directed by the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP to file the action.

He said his clients also filed a Preliminary Objection against the suit filed by Oyinlola, Baraje and Jaja at the Lagos State High Court, Ikeja.

The three sued Tukur, Deputy National Chairman Uche Secondus, National Women Leader Dr Kema Chikwe and National Publicity Olisah Metuh.

Baraje and the others are urging the court to stop the Tukur-led executive from functioning as the party's national officers.

But the Tukur-led PDP, in the contempt proceedings, said Baraje and the others allegedly violated a judgment of the Federal High Court in a suit numbered FHC/ABJ/504/2013, delivered on January 11.

The faction said Oyinlola conspired with Baraje and Jaja to take actions by which they flouted the judgment.

By allegedly doing so, they obstructed the administration of justice by subverting the appellate process, as Oyinlola's appeal against the judgment is yet to be determined.

The party said Oyinlola, "with guilty knowledge" "appointed and declared" himself as the National Secretary of the PDP "for the purpose of rendering the judgment of this Honourable Court nugatory and of no effect."

The applicants urged the court to make an order nullifying Oyinlola's appointment as the National Secretary.

The Federal High Court, in the judgment nullified Oyinlola's candidacy as a nominee of the Southwest Zonal Chapter of the PDP.

Plaintiffs in the suit are Chief Adebayo Dayo and Semiu Sodipo, who sued for themselves and on behalf of the Executive Committee of Ogun State PDP.

The court declared Oyinlola's subsequent election as National Secretary at the convention held in March last year as invalid, null and void by reason of another court order which nullified the Southwest Zonal Congress from which Oyinlola emerged.

The court directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to rectify PDP's records "by deleting the name of the first defendant (Oyinlola) as the National Secretary."

The court directed INEC to replace Oyinlola with a candidate nominated at a valid congress of the Southwest Zonal Chapter of the PDP, to be held within 21 days of the order.

According to the plaintiffs, by claiming to be a factional National Secretary of the PDP, Oyinlola and the others disrespected the court.

"The alleged contemnors have, since the delivery of the said judgment, committed additional acts of criminal contempt by conspiring to flout the purpose of the court as pronounced in its said judgment and the authority of the court in so pronouncing," they said.

The applicants said the alleged contemnors acted to subvert the appeal process made available by the 1999 Constitution by taking it upon themselves to overrule the judgment and appoint Oyinlola to the office which the court had validly removed him from, without following the process stipulated by the judgment or awaiting the result of the appeal.

"The acts of the contemnors constitute criminal contempt of this Hoonourable Court in that they have not only acted in concert to frustrate the order of this court, but have published to the public their decision to flout the authority and purpose of this Honourable Court in making the said order, demonstrating defiance and disrespect of this court, thereby holding the court in public odium, trampling upon the dignity and magesty of the judicial institution of the country in general and this Honourable Court in particular by making the court appear supine and irrelevant.

"It is, therefore, desirable, nay, imperative that this Honourable Court makes an example of the alleged contemnors to show the public that the criminial conduct of the alleged contemnors is an aberrant behaviour that is not permissible in a civilised democracy as obtainable in the Federal Republic of Nigeria," the applicants said.

Oluyede maintained that what transpired in the party was a storm in a tea cup, which would heal in due course, but blamed the actors for action contrary to the provisions of the constitution.

He said: "That does not really pose a danger to democracy; democracy means people should be free to express themselves. So, by expressing themselves in this way, even though it is illegal grouping, it does not really portend danger to the polity or even the party.

"The only thing that needs urgent attention is that many times some of the players have not recognised the need to play by the rule. They ought to have realised that the freedom they are enjoying requires the existence of certain democratic structures and institutions and that they should in the course of expressing these rights bear in mind that the institution must be preserved.

"That is the actual danger to the polity and that is going to affect not just the PDP, it is going to affect the entire polity. And that is the reason why my clients take a very serious approach to the action of Alhaji Baraje, Prince Oyinlola, Mr. Sam Jaja and their supporters.

"It would appear that what they are trying to do is a coup d' tat. Now the constitution of the PDP states the process of the change of leadership. What the group led by Baraje has done is no more than attempted coup. There is an illegal attempt to take over the leadership of the PDP without following due process.

"They have not followed due process not only because they have not followed the rule of the party, they have not followed due process because in the course of effecting their plans, they have attacked the integrity of the institution of democracy.

"The first institution they first unnecessarily dragged into it is INEC. Now, the INEC should not have registered the Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM), when INEC knew that those people who floated that party were still card carrying members of the PDP.

"These people are still card carrying members of the PDP today. Some of them are among those who are jostling now for recognition though illegally at the leadership of the PDP.

"By this action INEC has again, got into the ring instead of staying outside by unnecessarily facilitating the break up of an existing party, contrary to Section 224 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."