Tag: Makarfi

The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expressed satisfaction with yesterday’s judgment of an Abuja High Court which sacked Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as National Chairman.

The committee advised Sheriff to retrace his steps and join hands with others to move the party forward.

But the Sheriff camp said the court did not sack the embattled chairman and that the judgment of was being misinterpreted.

The court, presided over by Justice Valentine Ashi, nullified the 2014 PDP constitution amendment upon which Sheriff was appointed PDP chairman.

The court described the purported amendment as illegal and a violation of the Electoral Act.

Secretary of the Ahmed Makarfi -led caretaker committee, Senator Ben Obi, described the judgment as a welcome development.

“We expect more positive court rulings in the days ahead in favour of our party. It is time for them to face the truth and retrace their steps,” he said.

He called on Sheriff and his supporters to stop their hard line posture and cooperate with the caretaker committee to move the party forward.

“We believe that truth must be upheld; we want all hands to be on deck to chart the way forward”, Obi added.

Repudiating the judgment, the National Secretary of the Sheriff faction, Prof. Adewale Oladipo, said in a statement yesterday: “This is completely false and a clear misrepresentation of the ruling of the court as it never gave any ruling ousting the national chairman.

“Our attention has been drawn to reports circulating in the media that a Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court has ousted the National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the court only heard and delivered judgment on a matter concerning certain amendments in the PDP constitution, which has nothing to do with the election of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the national chairman or even that of his predecessor, Alhaji Adamu Muazu.

“Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was duly elected as the national chairman of the PDP. He still holds office as the national chairman and has not been removed by any court.

“We therefore urge those misleading the media and the unsuspecting public to desist from such. The media is also urged to always cross-check their facts before going to press.”

There appears to be no peace in sight for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with its two factions sticking to their guns.

“National Chairman” Ali Modu Sheriff and disputed Caretaker Chairman Ahmed Makarfi have refused to name their teams for peace talks.

Based on the collapse of the peace move, the National Secretariat of PDP has remained shut by the police.

It was learnt that the factions have not agreed on the agenda for the proposed negotiation.

Although the two leaders have been slated to meet since Monday, each of them has been shifting the goal post because of “irreconcilable differences.”

It was yesterday gathered that the reconciliation is being delayed by:

• withdrawal of all cases in court by Sheriff and his associates/ loyalists;
• Sheriff’s demand to remain in charge of the party even if he has to step aside later;
• Disagreement over the involvement of the PDP Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees in the reconciliation; and
• The shape of the Unity National Working Committee (NWC) being envisaged.

As part of the initial agreement, Sheriff and Makarfi were expected to name four representatives for the peace talks.

A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “The two factions have not been able to meet since Monday because they have not agreed on the agenda. Neither of them has named its representatives for the reconciliation talks.

“For instance, Sheriff is adamant on going through all the gamut of the legal process because he feels the law is on his side as far as this crisis is concerned.

“So, he wants to negotiate from a position of strength as the National Chairman of the party. He wants to remain in charge of the party until otherwise decided by the party leaders.

“He sees the Makarfi committee as a dissident group. This was why Sheriff nullified Monday’s PDP governorship primaries in Edo State.

“Banking on the mandate of the National Convention, the Makarfi group has kept to its status as the authentic leadership of the party. It believes that other than political exigency, Sheriff has no locus to sit at the negotiation table with the caretaker committee.

“The Caretaker Committee is of the opinion that the outcome of all suits will favour its mandate. It has been accusing Sheriff ‘s camp of misinterpreting some pronouncements of the court to cling to power.”

Another source said the two factions disagreed on the involvement of the PDP Governors Forum and the Board of Trustees in the reconciliation.

The source said: “Left to Sheriff, he does not want the involvement of the Board of Trustees because its members have taken sides with Makarfi’s Caretaker Committee. The same thing applies to some governors who have openly condemned him.

“He believes that his purported sack at the National Convention was hatched by some governors and BoT members. And he was shocked that the BoT leadership handed over to Makarfi’s Caretaker Committee at the National Secretariat.

“There is distrust between the two factions and it has become impossible for the reconciliation talks to take off. Therefore, the negotiation appears dead on arrival.”

A member of the BoT, who spoke in confidence, said: “As it is now, only a definite pronouncement by the court will help the party to get over the crisis and reconcile. We hope the court will grant all cases accelerated hearing.

“In the alternative, some leaders of PDP have been reaching out to Sheriff’s main backer, Sen. Buruji Kashamu, to prevail on his candidate to give room for reconciliation.

“If Buruji can be of help, the two factions should be able to go to the negotiation table by next week.”

A police source said: “We are awaiting the outcome of the reconciliation meeting by the two groups based on the pledge they made to the immediate past Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase.

“The National Secretariat of PDP remains under lock and key at the instance of the two factions in order to prevent a breakdown of law and order.”

I’m in charge till 2018, says ex-Borno governor

Caretaker chair: I’m authentic leader

AFTER a short break, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leaders returned yesterday to their bitter struggle for the party’s control.

Ousted National Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff took over the secretariat in Abuja, proclaiming himself the authentic leader and dismissing the Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee as an illegal body.

But the Makarfi camp wrote to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding to be recognised as the authentic leadership of the party.

INEC was yet to take a decision on the PDP crisis last night.

It was gathered that the electoral commission was awaiting the decision of the court on all pending issues.

Sheriff yesterday staged a dramatic return to the party’s national secretariat.

With Sheriff were erstwhile National Secretary Prof. Wale Oladipo, ousted National Auditor Adewole Adeyanju and a former presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak. There was a small crowd of supporters.

An initial attempt by the party chiefs to enter the building as early as 9a.m. was blocked by policemen manning the gate – apparently on the orders of the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee.

Undeterred, Sheriff went to confer with Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase, at the Force Headquarters and got permission to be allowed into the building.

On arrival at the secretariat, Sheriff said his tenure as chairman remained valid till December 2018. He dismissed the caretaker committee as an illegal body.

Said he: “After due consultations with serious-minded stakeholders of the party and my lawyers, against the background that I have remained committed to lawful procedures, I have come, fully armed with all the necessary court orders, to resume as national chairman, as directed by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“As we settle down to move the party forward, we wish to call on all party members within and outside the country to come around so that we can together reposition the PDP for future challenges.

“We have served the necessary court orders on the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is the impartial arbiter in matters like this; the police as custodians of the law and we will make same available to you gentlemen of the press, so that you can make informed analysis of the issues involved. We hereby seek your own cooperation as we continue the task of re-engineering the PDP.

“I wish to use this opportunity to thank all those who stood on the side of the truth and the law, and wish to place on record that never again shall the PDP return to wallow in lawlessness and impunity.”

Last week, key party organs, including the governors, Board of Trustees (BoT) and National Assembly caucus, handed over the party’s affairs to the caretaker committee.

But Sheriff said the caretaker committee was alien to the PDP’s constitution and that if there was any need for setting up such a committee, he, as chairman, ought to have presided over the exercise.

“Against this backdrop, I hereby declare as null, void and of no consequence whatsoever, any action taken by any person or group of persons, except by my leadership which is recognised by law,” he declared.

He called on prospective aspirants for the upcoming governorship election in Edo State to obtain their nomination forms for N10 million as against the N16 million fixed by the caretaker committee.

“Any aspirant who obtains nomination form from the caretaker committee would have themselves to blame because the only National Working Committee recognised by law is the one presided over by me,” Sheriff said, adding:

“I therefore call on everyone to shun all acts that will tend to portray the party as being lawless. We must learn to obey our laws first before we can hope to provide the desired leadership.”

The former Borno State Governor accused the party of promoting illegalities and impunity – in disobedience to court orders. He described the caretaker committee as one of such cases of impunity.

According to him, he stayed away from the party in deference to a court order restraining him from parading himself as chairman. The said order  lapsed after 14 days, Sheriff said, adding:

“I have all the while kept away from the office in strict compliance with the ex parte order of the Port Harcourt Federal High Court, which lapsed on the 9th of June and not because I sanction the illegalities being committed by some few members of our party.”

Makarfi’s committee writes INEC to demand recognition

The Ahmed Makarfi committee wrote INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu  last week.

The committee based its request on the outcome of the National Convention of the PDP in Port Harcourt and the decision of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the party.

In the letter, the caretaker committee said it was put in place at the National Convention, which was supervised by INEC officials.

It also asked INEC to deal with it henceforth on any issue relating to the party.

A source, who spoke in confidence, said the Caretaker Committee based its letter on the mandate given to it by the National Convention in line with Section 33(5) of the PDP Constitution.

The section says: “The National Convention shall have and exercise authority to (a) formulate policies and programmes of the party; (b) elect or remove the national officers of the party; (c) elect the presidential candidate of the party; (d) demand and receive reports from the National Executive Committee and from any other committees or organs of the party and take appropriate action on such reports; (e) appoint such committees as it may deem necessary, desirable or expedient and assign to them such powers and functions as it may deem fit.”

The source added: “If you read this section very well, the National Convention is empowered to raise the Caretaker Committee.

“In fact, Section 31(5)(g) mandates the Board of Trustees to ‘offer advice on party matters to the National Executive Committee of the party’.

“It was on these constitutional premises that the Caretaker Committee approached INEC for recognition. As a matter of fact, INEC supervised our National Convention.”

A highly-placed source in INEC confirmed the receipt of the letter.

He said: “We have received a letter from Makarfi’s committee seeking recognition.

“We have refrained from replying the letter because there are many cases in court on the crisis in the party with INEC joined in some matters.

“We are therefore yet to take a decision to avoid committing any act of subjudice. We are yet to issue a letter of recognition to the Caretaker Committee.

“I think we may  go by the pronouncement of the court on this crisis.”

Asked when the INEC management will meet, the source added: “At the appropriate time.”