Contempt Of Court: Makarfi Others Flee To Escape Jail

Members of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by their Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi may have abandoned their temporary office in Wuse, in the face of attempts to serve them Form 48, for contempt of Court.  While Makarfi was said to have fled Abuja to Kaduna to avoid being served the notice of contempt, other officials are said to be operating from their private houses, even as they await the pronouncement of the Federal High Court Abuja, presided over by Justice Okon Abang, over the matter. The fiery judge has ordered the suspension of the PDP convention or any gathering in Port Harcourt pending the determination of an application before him, only for the members of the Caretaker Committee to go on with the gathering at the Party State Secretariat in Port Harcourt, where they purportedly extended the tenure of the caretaker Committee by twelve months. Justice Abang, while handing down the order had warned on the consequences of disobedience of the said order, to the effect that he publicly cautioned INEC against monitoring the convention. Since returning from Port Harcourt, arrowheads of the makarfi group have continued to attack the person and office of the judge, by making ridiculous remarks about the matter before him, besides flouting the same orders. Having been faced with the grim realities of the issue and the likely consequences of their  action, they have all gone under, with periodic statements from its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, while Makarfi was said to have threatened to throw in the towel, as he is not physically fit to face any prison condition. Sources at a meeting held at Makarfi’s residence in Maitama before he left for Abuja told our correspondent that, the former Kaduna State governor is no longer keen on leading the
committee, as complications arising from the botched National Convention and the threat of imprisonment have taken tolls on his health. Our correspondent however learnt that, the Caretaker Committee members mayn have been eventually served the court notice of contempt, and they are bound to appear before justice Abang on September 7th, when the matter comes up.