The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed an application filed by the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, asking the apex court not to hear the appeal presented by the Chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Ahmed Makarfi.
The duo are battling for the party leadership position.
A Federal High Court has earlier confirmed Sheriff as authentic chairman of the PDP.
Details later…
A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Buruji Kashamu has faulted the call by the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee on members to seek alternative platform for their political aspirations.
Kashamu, who represents Ogun East in the Senate and a staunch member of the Ali Modu Sheriff camp, described Makarfi’s call as self-serving and disingenuous.
In a statement he circulated in Abuja on Thursday, Kashamu called on party faithful to ignore the call, saying Makarfi’s statement amounted to anti-party activity.
The statement said, “While it is true that a political party is an organization made up of people who voluntarily joined and could voluntarily exit, that call to decimate the PDP could come from those who seek to lead it leaves much to be desired.
“It is most reprehensible when it is realized that the call is coming from those who had benefitted so much from the PDP as governors, ministers and lawmakers.
“I dare say that their posture has not only shown their state of mind but it has also exposed them for who they are. It has shown that contrary to their claims, Senator Makarfi and his co-travellers never really had the interest of the PDP at heart.
“They have not conducted themselves as true party men. If they were true party men, they would never seek to throw away the baby with the bath water.
“There is no perfect relationship or organization anywhere. People, especially politicians, are bound to agree and disagree. We disagree, negotiate and build consensus”.
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Board of Trustees (BOT), Senator Walid Jibrin, has denied describing the factional national chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and his supporters in disparaging terms.
Jubrin, who spoke with journalists in Kaduna, Wednesday, expressed shock at the statement that circulated online and said to have emanated from him.
In the statement, Jibrin was quoted as saying Sheriff and his co- travelers especially Cairo Ojuogboh were “never men of honour, nonentities, impostors and rabble rousers.”
Jibrin said those closer to him can attest to the fact that he is not given to slander but focuses on issues hence could not have made such a statement.
He said: “The comment purported to have been made by me is very satanic. The motive of the architect is to divide us in order to kill the PDP. But they will never succeed as the party remains one. The issue at hand is about the party and not individuals and I have never viewed it in any other way.”
The BOT chairman said his position on the party chairmanship tussle has been consistent, clear and has never changed.
“We have trust in the judiciary and we don’t want anybody to come and divide us. We remain one as PDP and anybody who wants to create any problems should leave the party.
“They should stop misquoting me as my position has always been consistent. I urge my supporters to disregard any statement that is at variance with my known stand on this matter and allow the courts to work,” he stated.
The Supreme Court will on May 25 hear the appeal filed by the Ahmed Makarfi faction of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port-Harcourt, which recognised Ali Modu Sheriff as the authentic chairman of the party.
A five-man panel of the apex court, led by Justice Musa Datijo Mohammed, chose the date after granting leave to the 1st and 2nd respondents (Sheriff and PDP’s National Secretary, Adewale Oladipo) to regularise their processes.
They were represented by Akin Olujinmi (SAN).
The court equally agreed to hear on same date, a motion filed by the Sheriff-led leadership of the party, challenging the legitimacy of the appeal filed in the name of the PDP by the Makarfi faction, which had been sacked by virtue of the Appeal Court judgment.
Thursday’s proceedings were witnesses by many stalwarts of the two factions fighting for the party leadership.
The spacious courtroom was full to the brims.
Those sighted by The Nation included Makarfi, Senator Ben Obi, Prof. Jerry Gana, a former Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Tom Ikimi and the Spokesman for the Makarfi faction, Dayo Adeyeye.
Abuja, May 1, 2017 (NAN) The National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, said the party would pay reasonable minimum wage to workers if it returned to power in 2019.
In a statement signed by his deputy, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, on Monday in Abuja, Sherriff congratulated the workers on the 2017 Workers’ Day, and urged them to put in more efforts in making Nigeria great.
He said that the appeal was important as the country needed everyone to be involved in the rebuilding process that would take it to greater heights.
“When we take over power, we shall address minimum wage that will ensure workers’ pay will not only take them home, but will be able to also cater for the families and pay school fees.
“We understand the difficulties the nation is going through at the moment, but a government can only be changed through the ballots.
“2019 will be another opportunity to change power; then, the workers will know what it means to have PDP back in power,” Sheriff said.
He said that the PDP was not just seeking to take over power, but was also looking forward to partnering Labour to emancipate citizens, no matter their tribes or religions.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said it was untrue that Rivers governor, Nyesom Wike and his Ekiti counterpart, Ayodele Fayose, sponsored the party’s April 6 stakeholders’ meeting.
The Publicity Secretary of the National Caretaker Committee of the party, Mr Dayo Adeyeye stated this at the news conference on Friday in Abuja.
Deputy National Chairman of the party, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, had at a news conference in Abuja on Thursday alleged that the stakeholders’ meeting convened and chaired by former President Goodluck Jonathan was sponsored by both governors.
Ojougboh, who claimed to be speaking for PDP National Chairman, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, alleged that Wike spent N50 million to host the meeting.
Adeyeye said that the committee would have ignored the allegations since Ojougboh was not an officer of PDP, but stated that doing so may send wrong signals to unsuspecting members of the public.
He said that the PDP was not surprised that Ojougboh would hallucinate and found pleasure in castigating the two governors at every turn.
He said that it was unfortunate that Ojougboh had never been able to utter a single word of criticism against his “paymaster, the ruling party”.
Adeyeye recalled that the meeting was agreed at the residence of former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Aliyu Gusau, in the presence of Sheriff, Prof. Wale Oladipo, Sen. David Mark, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi and Sen. Ben Obi.
“In the light of the above, therefore, it is uncharitable for Ojougboh to allege that the stakeholders meeting was organised and sponsored by Wike and Fayose.
“Indeed, it is the height of indecency for Sheriff and Ojougboh to allege that a person of Jonathan’s standing could be induced by anyone, not the least a governor, to organise the meeting,’’ he said.
Adeyeye said that indecency was the nature of Ojougboh and his sponsors, adding that it was the reason they had no qualms in dragging decent people into the mud.
He also denied Ojougboh’s allegation that Wike bribed the Judiciary with five million dollars to get justice on the Rivers Governorship Election at the Supreme Court.
“We have been reliably informed that the latest accusation against the judiciary is part of their calculated and clandestine plot to blackmail the Justices of the Supreme Court.
“That was what they did to the Justices of the Special Appeal Panel during the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election case.’’
He requested the Supreme Court to find out from Ojougboh who among its officers that Wike disbursed the five million dollars to as he alleged.
“Let Ojougboh be informed that he cannot pitch the good people of Rivers against their loving and performing governor over his childish and mindless allegation of financial impropriety,’’
Adeyeye advised all PDP chapters in the states to ignore any directive regarding national convention by Sheriff.
He also described the purported National Executive Council (NEC) meeting being summoned by Sheriff on May 3 as “total fraud, politically and legally’’.
He urged chairmen of the states’ chapters of the party to disregard Sheriff’s request for the submission of delegates’ lists on or before April 27.
Adeyeye said that PDP would announce meetings of its various organs at an appropriate time after due consultation with all stakeholders.
On ongoing campaign by Sheriff in the South-East and South-South zones, he commended PDP stakeholders in the regions “for not partaking in such illegality.
“The presence of the two deputy governors was solely on grounds of hospitality.
“The PDP is not organising any campaign or rally around the country at the moment.
“We urge our members to remain steadfast and continue to ignore any meeting called by Sheriff.’’
LEADERS of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are still tearing at one another despite moves to ensure peace in the troubled party. Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike yesterday described court-backed National Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff as a mole of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). The governor claimed that the Federal Government was sponsoring Sheriff because of the “destructive crisis that has engulfed the APC at the national level”.
The governor spoke at the Sharks Stadium in Port Harcourt, the state capital, after receiving defectors said to be from the APC. His attack on Sheriff coincided with the chairman’s allegation that the governor gave former President Goodluck Jonathan N50 million to organise the botched PDP Stakeholders’ meeting. Dr. Jonathan has denied the allegation, saying that he convened the meeting out of his genuine concern for peace to reign in the party. Wike said: “Sheriff is a mole of the APC who is being sponsored by the Federal Government. They are sponsoring Sheriff because of the crisis in the APC “.
On the 2019 general elections, Wike said the alleged plan by INEC to rig in Rivers State would fail. He advised that only card readers should be used for the 2019 poll, adding that manual accreditation would lead to the manipulation of results. Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose said Sheriff has taken his desperation too far by accusing the former president of taking bribe. Fayose, in a message by his media aide, Lere Olayinka, stated: “If Sheriff has taken his desperation to serve his paymasters in the APC to the level of accusing Jonathan of being bribed to organise peace meeting for the PDP, there is no reason for any sane mind to continue to respond to the continuous advertisement of his political insanity.”
Sheriff, who spoke through his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh at a news conference at the party’s secretariat, said Governors Wike and Fayose recruited Dr Jonathan into a fake peace effort pre-determined to scuttle the ongoing peace initiative in the party. “The result is that President Jonathan was lured into committing a serious breach of protocol that led to the failure of the exercise which was the intended outcome,” Sheriff said. According to him, Wike and the media chief, Dr Raymond Dokpesi, have already established their own political party.
Their mission, he said, is to tie the PDP down with undue controversies. He said the party was worried that the amount of money Wike was spending on the crisis could smear the image of the PDP. “This money belongs to the people of Rivers State and it should not be misappropriated at the expense of the people to whom it rightfully belongs. “We, therefore, call on party leaders and Nigerians to refrain from accepting this money from Governor Wike in line with the spirit of our founding fathers,” Sheriff added.
The party chairman restated his determination to go ahead with the plans to organise a convention for the party, saying preparations for a free and fair exercise were in top gear. Sheriff directed state chairmen of the PDP to send to the party secretariat the lists of all statutory delegates to the convention on or before April 27. He added that the National Executive Committee (NEC) would hold on May 3. Dr. Jonathan, who spoke through his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, dismissed Sheriff’s allegation that he collected N50 million from Wike. “I don’t think anybody will believe that Jonathan collected money from anybody to organise the meeting. It was out of his genuine concern to bring peace to the party. “
Lagos state Chairman of the People Democratic Party (PDP), Otunba Segun Adewale has expressed his displeasure over Ekiti state governor Ayodele Fayose’s unbridled romance with leaders of the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC).
In his reaction to an advertorial placed in the Punch newspaper on the 29th March 2017, by the Ekiti State Governor to celebrate and eulogise Asiwaju Bola Tinubu at 65, Adewale described such romance as unfortunate and a major blow on the confidence of the grassroots members and supporters of the PDP.
In a release made available to journalists signed by the chairman, he lamented how some leaders of the party, including Fayose, have completely sold out to individuals within the ruling party at the detriment of the members.
“I am surprised that Governor Ayodele Fayose the Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum could throw cautions to the wind and rub his alleged alliance with the leadership of the ruling party in the south-west on our faces. As a leader and beneficiary of the PDP goodwill, I expect him to clearly understand that members and supporters are looking up to him and such unguided actions demoralise them.”
Continuing, Adewale noted “No doubt, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu paid his dues towards the success of APC in the last general elections. He deserves the admiration of members of the ruling party for providing a responsible leadership within his party. I want to advise Governor Fayose to emulate Bola Tinubu’s team spirit and respect for party organs in his dealings within the PDP and not embark on actions that may further demoralise our members. The political sagacity of Tinubu is worthy of study by upcoming politicians. However, open acknowledgement of Asiwaju doggedness that saw our party out of power in 2015 is a mockery on the PDP.
It will be recalled that Governor Ayodele Fayose was present at the inauguration of Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, Ondo State some weeks ago and enjoyed the company of APC leaders in attendance while he neglected the welcoming party and thanksgiving service organised by the good people of Ondo kingdom in honour of their son, former Governor Segun Mimiko.
“Unequivocally, the said advertorial is a confirmation of Governor Fayose’s anti-party activities that have finally come to fore. I wonder how the APC would have viewed such advertorial for former President Jonathan by former Goverrnor Fashola or Governor Aregbesola for instance in the build up to the 2015 general election. Even during the first or second republic, no opposition leader openly embraced Pa Awolowo despite awos popularity, achievements and sagacity. The fact that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has done very well for himself and his political party is not an excuse for Governor Fayose demonstration of impunity and disregard to party loyalty”.
“It is an aberration for Governor Fayose to publicly acknowledge the role played by Asiwaju in destroying PDP that made Fayose what he is today. It is impossible to also forget the role played by Asiwaju Tinubu in the emergence of President Buhari as the Nigerian President, a decision that has brought untold economic hardship on Nigerians. Obviously, the choice of President Buhari wasn’t in the interest of the people but for personal aggrandisement of a few politicians”
Adewale insisted that the Fayose’s action is an open confrontation and an attempt to undermine the PDP in the south-west. He appealed to members of the Party to remain steadfast saying “I wish to sincerely appeal to our members not to be deterred by actions targeted at damping their spirit as the storm is over already. What we are seeing presently are last minutes efforts by a few wolf in sheep skin struggling to have a safe landing now that the PDP has been returned to the People by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the National Chairman” he concluded.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Johnson Agbonayinma (Edo-PDP), said the crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could be resolved if members dropped sentiments.
Agbonayinma said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
He said that was no problem without solution and the ability to look beyond issues without being passionate would go a long way in bringing peace back to the party.
“So, I align with Gov. Seriake Dickson’s recommendations on ways to restore peace to the party.
“I must appreciate him and I believe his efforts will never be in vain.
“I think Dickson’s report and recommendation is the only way forward and that is what Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, Chairman of PDP, has been saying.
“We must stop the impunity in our party; we must give the party back to the people. When you say, `PDP, power to the people’, we must exhibit that; we must show to the world that we really care for the people.
“It is not about being selfish but about selflessness. Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff is not on trial, those that are on trial are those trying to blackmail him, castigate him and paint him black,’’ he said.
The lawmaker said that some people did not mean well for the party and therefore called on all members to ensure that the party bounced back.
“Some people who don’t mean well for our party are being used by some external forces to cause crisis for PDP because they are financially buoyant.
“I tell you the truth, Nigerians are wiser than what they think and they are watching too,” he said.
A lawyer, Mr Onyekachi Ubani, on Friday advised PDP to resolve its problems internally and politically to enhance preparations for the 2019 general elections.
Ubani gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He was reacting to filing of a motion by the Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP Caretaker Committee to strike out an appeal challenging the restoration of Sen. Ali-Modu Sheriff as the party’s national chairman.
NAN reports that the Supreme Court had on Thursday fixed May 4 to hear the motion.
The Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee is praying the Supreme Court to upturn the Feb.17 judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, which restored Sheriff.
Ubani told NAN that both factions of the PDP should adhere to Gov. Seriake Dickson’s Reconciliation Committee’s call for peace.
“PDP can put its house together for 2019 if it solves the problem politically.
“If they (PDP members) insist on court actions, and the court makes a pronouncement, I do not see any reconciliation.
“The best way is to put the matter out of court; both factional chairman should agree not to contest for the leadership of the party and allow neutral people to emerge as leaders.
“The moment they want this matter to be solved by the Supreme Court, the court’s pronouncement may be in favour of any of the factions, and the other faction may not accept it.
Ubani warned that continuation of the crisis would ‘kill’ the party.
“If they resolve this matter internally and politically without allowing the court to make the final pronouncement, the PDP factions may be on the verge of reconciliation,” Ubani said.
NAN reports that the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt had on Feb. 17 affirmed Sheriff as the national chairman of the party.
The PDP had in its May 2016 national convention resolved to sack the party’s National Working Committee (NWC).
In place of the NWC and National Executive Committee of the party, the convention constituted a National Caretaker Committee headed by Sen. Ahmed Makarfi to manage the party and organise an elective national convention.
Sheriff challenged the development in court and secured judgment in his favour