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Tag: PDP crisis

  • PDP crisis: Makarfi under pressure to step down, withdraw appeal

    PDP crisis: Makarfi under pressure to step down, withdraw appeal

    •Ex-Kaduna Gov may head convention committee
    •Jonathan didn’t ask him to step down, says Adeyeye
    •State excos to be harmonised

    Pressure is mounting on the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to step down and withdraw all cases instituted against the Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party.
    This, according to an investigation, is the immediate fallout of the intervention of former President Goodluck Jonathan in the crisis and his parley with PDP governors and other party stakeholders on the way out of the crisis that has torn the party into two.
    Multiple party sources told The Nation that top PDP members have been advising Makarfi to relinquish his position and to allow Sheriff organise the national convention that will give birth to a new leadership for the party as recently agreed by stakeholders.
    The proposal for Makarfi to step down, sources said, was broached at interactive sessions between party chieftains and the recently constituted reconciliation committee during the week.
    Present at the meetings were PDP governors who are the backbone of support for Makarfi.
    Embedded in the deal is the appointment of the former Kaduna State governor as chairman of the convention committee.
    Sheriff has repeatedly said that he will step down once the national convention takes place.
    It is also proposed that the reconciliation committee will harmonize the structures of the two factions as a way of ensuring that delegates for the planned convention represent all interests and factions.
    The PDP Reconciliation Committee is headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, who said during the week that the solution to the PDP crisis lies in adopting a political approach.
    He said the committee is prepared for such an approach.
    He gave no details.
    The committee also comprises Senator Ibrahim Mantu as deputy chairman and Senator Joshua Lidani as secretary.
    Sources said yesterday that pressure on Makarfi to step down is part of the effort.
    The Nation learnt that an earlier plan to have both Sheriff and Makarfi quit may have been jettisoned following what some sources described as superior arguments at subsequent parleys.
    It was gathered that the need to avoid violating the recent court judgements, as well as avoiding having to enthrone another caretaker committee, largely informed the new move.
    In addition to stepping down from his position as head of the controversial caretaker committee of PDP, Makarfi and his faction are expected to withdraw all pending cases in court, especially the appeal against the recent ruling of the Court of Appeal which pronounced Sheriff as the authentic chairman of the party.
    While it is unclear whether the former Kaduna State governor is agreeable to the proposal, sources suggest that some of his backers, including the PDP governors and members of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), may have bought into the idea as the best way out of the PDP crisis.
    “It is true that Makarfi is being talked into agreeing to step down and allowing Sheriff to conduct the proposed convention that will usher in a new leadership for the party,” one source said.
    “The new leadership however, as agreed by stakeholders, must be all embracing and non-factional. It has also been agreed that both factions will contribute equally to all committees and other logistics that will lead to the said convention.
    “The initial idea that both leaders should quit was shelved following the emergence of superior arguments against it. In the process of finding a lasting peace to the crisis in PDP, many meetings have been held. Many will still be held until we achieve our aim which is to resolve all differences and put PDP back on the right track.
    “Those opposed to the initial idea warned that anything we want to do must not contravene any law of the land or any subsisting court judgement. It was also observed that having the two of them leave office will warrant the enthronement of another leadership structure, be it caretaker committee or whatever. This is another thing we want to avoid.”
    It was also gathered that on the strength of the last Court of Appeal’s judgement stakeholders are of the opinion that it is better to allow Sheriff conduct the convention “under strict moderation by the party’s reconciliation committee and other stakeholders.”
    Another party source said:” it was reasonably argued and agreed upon by our leaders that it may be in the best interest of the party to allow Senator Sheriff remain in office to conduct the convention and usher in a new leadership that will be all encompassing, for our party.
    “We realized there is no need to create a vacuum or a new body that may again be faulted by the law of the land, thereby leading to another crisis.
    “And since the last judgement endorsed Sheriff, it is safe to work with him towards achieving our aims of a clean slate and a new beginning for PDP. Sheriff himself is willing to leave and give way to a new leadership. He has promised to conduct an all inclusive convention where he will not be seeking re-election.”
    Party chieftains who do not want to be named confirmed that the new deal is in continuation of Jonathan’s proposed political solution which has been embraced by all the PDP governors and the majority of the party’s leading chieftains, including members of the BoT and the party’s national assembly caucus.
    Meanwhile, it is expected that the state executive committees of the two factions will have to be harmonized by the reconciliation committee before the planned convention.
    This, sources according to sources, is to prevent any controversy over the status of delegates going to the convention from the various states.
    “It is actually the issue of how to handle the fictionalised state executive committees that is the biggest challenge now.
    “Don’t forget that nearly all the states across the country have factional leaderships supporting either Makarfi or Sheriff. It is how well we are able to harmonise these that will determine how easy the new deal will sail through.”
    However, the spokesman for the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has denied reports that former President Goodluck Jonathan asked Makarfi to step down.
    “It’s not true that former President Jonathan asked Makarfi to step down for Sheriff to conduct a convention. What convention is Sheriff going to conduct?” Adeyeye said by phone yesterday.
    “I spoke with Makarfi this morning (Saturday morning) and he would have told me if it’s true that former President Jonathan asked him to step down.
    “Sheriff can’t organise any convention because he is not his own man. He is being controlled by external forces clearly outside the PDP so he can’t convince nobody of any genuine intention to organise a convention.”
    The former minister of state for works said the caretaker committee and all the critical organs of the party are determined to pursue the cross appeal against Sheriff pending before the Supreme Court.
    But he said this is without prejudice to the ongoing reconciliation efforts being spearheaded by Dr. Jonathan.
    He said:”We have resolved to pursue our case at the Supreme Court to a logical conclusion. This is without prejudice to the ongoing reconciliation efforts.
    “If we eventually resolve the matter amicably, then we move forward from there. But it would involve all the critical organs and all stakeholders within the PDP.
    “We want people to realise the fact that this is not a personal battle of any individual in the party. It’s a collective struggle that must be seen to a logical conclusion,” Adeyeye said.

  • Jonathan didn’t advise Sheriff to resign as chairman – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed a media report claiming that Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff was advised by former president Goodluck Jonathan to resign as the National chairman of the party.

    The acting National Publicity Secretary to the Sheriff faction, Mr. Bernard Mikko, stated this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    The statement said the issue of resignation as the political solution has neither been discussed nor put up for consideration with former President and other stakeholders as reported in some media.

    “As a law abiding citizen, Sheriff has been urging all stakeholders to make themselves available and offer advice on how to conduct the party’s national convention as soon as possible,” it added.

    The stakeholders, according to the statement, include PDP governors; national and state assembly members and Board of Trustees (BoT) members.

    NAN

     

  • Jonathan, governors seek political solution to PDP crisis

    Jonathan, governors seek political solution to PDP crisis

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met with governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over the lingering leadership crisis rocking the party.
    The meeting agreed that the party’s crisis should be resolved through a political solution.
    Governors Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe); Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta); Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Ben Ayade (Cross River); Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Darius Ishaku (Taraba); Ayo Fayose (Ekiti); and the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Ipalibo Banigo, attended
    The meeting, which was being held in Jonathan’s private office in Maitama, Abuja, started around 6pm. It was still on going as at 8.45pm.

  • Jonathan, PDP Govs meet over crisis in party

    Jonathan, PDP Govs meet over crisis in party

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan Tuesday met with governors elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) over the leadership crisis rocking the party.

    Although agenda of the meeting was not made public, it was gathered that the festering leadership crisis in the party was top on the agenda.

    Governors that attended the meeting included Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa); Ibrahim Dankwabo (Gombe); Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta); Okezie Ikpeazu (Abia); Dave Umahi (Ebonyi); Benedict Ayade (Cross River); Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom); Darius Ishaku (Taraba); Ayo Fayose (Ekiti); and the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Ipalibo Banigo.

    The meeting, which was being held in Jonathan’s private office, located in Maitama, Abuja was said to have started about 6pm and was still in progress as at 8.45pm.

  • PDP crisis: Makarfi warns of breakdown of law and order

    PDP crisis: Makarfi warns of breakdown of law and order

    The blame game continued yesterday in the troubled Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
    A faction of the main opposition blamed the reopening of its national secretariat for Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff on the police, which it accused of taking sides.
    Besides, the party accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of having a hand in its misfortune.
    The secretariat was sealed off by the police in June 2015 in the heat of the tussle between Sheriff and the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the PDP for the control of the party.
    However, acting on the strength of the judgment by the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal that affirmed Sheriff as National Chairman, the police last Thursday reopened the secretariat for Sheriff and his team.
    But the Makarfi camp has warned that the police action could cause a breakdown of law and order, adding that the police acted in bad faith by allowing Sheriff access to the facility.
    At a media briefing in Abuja yesterday, the spokesman for the Makarfi camp, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the police chose to obey the law only when it favoured Sheriff.
    Adeyeye lamented that the police that refused to reopen the secretariat for the Makarfi camp when it won the case against Sheriff at the Federal High Court, reopened the building for Sheriff for winning at the appellate court.
    Apparently in sympathy with the Makarfi camp, a group of women party members, staged a protest at the secretariat to denounce  the reopening of the facility.
    The workers stayed away from the office, in solidarity with the Makarfi group, which they insisted remained the authentic leaders of the party.
    Adeyeye said the Makarfi camp had already filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the Appeal Court judgment and such, the police should ensure that the secretariat remained sealed until the Supreme Court delivers judgment on the matter.
    “In the light of the above, we are calling on the police and the general public and lovers of peace and democracy to ask Senator Sheriff and co. to respect the on-going litigation processes.
    “The police should ensure that Sheriff and co. do not occupy the national secretariat in order to avoid breakdown of law and order. We have noticed that the police have taken sides in this matter, perhaps because of directives from the APC, but a stitch in time saves nine.”
    Accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of complicity in favouring Sheriff, the Makarfi camp said the police and the APC had undermined the rule of law.
    Deploring what he described as forceful takeover of the secretariat, Adeyeye said the keys to the main entrance to the building were given to the chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin, when the  secretariat was sealed off.
    “We know that the keys to the secretariat are still with the BoT but Sheriff entered by breaking the doors, in an action totally unbecoming of a person who has been governor of a state, senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and also claiming to be a National Chairman of a major political party.  We therefore demand that Senator Sheriff and co. vacate the national secretariat immediately”, Adeyeye added.
    Accusing the APC and some of its chieftains of acting hand-in-glove with Sheriff, Adeyeye alleged plots by some government officials to support Sheriff through financial inducements.
    He said: “For the record, just last week, the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, gave unsolicited advice that we should support Senator Sheriff. That is one instance of their meddlesomeness in the PDP affairs.
    “There is no doubt that Okorocha and co. are happy that their man won at the Appeal Court but very much afraid that he could lose at the Supreme Court.”
    “Also, we have it on good authority that the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, has deployed his former Abuja Liaison Officer who was a former Intermediate Officer of the party, Mr. John Enebeli, among others, to lure some members of staff in support of Senator Sheriff by promising them huge sums of money to offset their outstanding allowances.
    “Senator Sheriff is equally luring some employees on the same jumbo promise. Let him recall that he made the same promise when he first assumed office only to dash the hope of the hapless employees.”
    The rival Makarfi camp also alleged plans by Sheriff to receive faceless groups purporting to be executive committees of state chapters and declaring support for the party chairman.
    According to the aggrieved group, the plot is meant to deceive unsuspecting party members and members of the public into believing that Sheriff has gained acceptance of the party’s organs.
    “In the days ahead, the public will be treated to a show of pre-arranged solidarity visits by illegal or non-existent state excos.”
    But in a swift reaction, a member of the Sheriff team, Dr. Ahmed Gulak, asked the Makarfi camp to stop blackmailing the Supreme Court ahead of the hearing of the appeal.
    Also addressing the media yesterday on behalf of Sheriff, Gulak said the two parties had agreed not to pursue the case to the Supreme Court, insisting that there was an agreement to allow the case terminate at the Court of Appeal.
    According to the ex-presidential adviser, the police sealed off the secretariat in 2016 on request from both factions, to avoid breakdown of law and order.
    Gulak said: “Both parties agreed that in order to pursue genuine  reconciliation, nobody should pursue the case again in the Supreme Court, because even if you get court victory you still need the people. So that we can have a convention where national officers will be elected.
    “Supreme Court belongs to all Nigerians. They said they will get judgment from Supreme Court as if it is their institution. You don’t grandstand and blackmail the Supreme Court.
    “If they are going to the Supreme Court, they should be calm. The law does not see your face. It is not a popularity contest; the law is the law.
    Gulak observed that by virtue of the last judgement of the appellate court, all actions taken by the Makarfi caretaker committee remained illegal.
    “Sheriff is still the chairman. He will lead the National Working Committee (NWC) to hold a unity convention. This party is bigger than everybody,” Gulak added.
    He admitted that the protracted crisis had taken a toll on the stability of the party, adding that too much energy had been dissipated on internal squabbles.

  • PDP crisis: It’s Sheriff’s crown, Makarfi’s crowd

    PDP crisis: It’s Sheriff’s crown, Makarfi’s crowd

    The recent judgment of the Court of Appeal affirming Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sent the combatants in the factions back to the trenches. Assistant Editor GBADE OGUNWALE reports.

    There seems to be no end to in sight the leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The recent judgment by the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal has rekindled the animosity within the fold. By the strength of the appellate court’s ruling and in the eyes of the law, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff is the national chairman of the PDP. But, the National Caretaker Committee, led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has initiated the process of challenging the ruling of the appellate court at the Supreme Court.
    Although the Appeal Court has given the crown to Sheriff, Makarfi is still holding on to the PDP crowd. While Sheriff has only a handful of followers on his side, Makarfi has all the critical organs and party stakeholders lining up behind him. At a stakeholders meeting convened by the Makarfi camp on last week, the governors, the National Assembly caucus, the league of ex ministers, the Board of Trustees and prominent chieftains were present. They took turns to express their opposition to Sheriff’s headship of the party. According to them, the former Borno State governor is not a fit and proper person to lead the PDP. In a communique issues after the meeting, they unanimously agreed to challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal at the Supreme Court.
    But, Sheriff is not leaving things to chances. Shortly after the verdict, he had visited to former military President, Ibrahim Babangida at his Minna hilltop mansion. Former Governor of Niger State Babangida Aliyu, accompanied Sheriff on the visit. Although details of the meeting with General Babangida were not made public, it was apparent that Sheriff went on an endorsement mission. While the Makarfi camp was still meeting to protest against his leadership, Sheriff was having yet another consultation with former President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja. Like the meeting with Babangida, details of the consultation with Jonathan were also not made public.
    However, Jonathan kept addressing Sheriff as “my chairman” after the meeting, a gesture many have interpreted to be a tacit endorsement of Sheriff by the former President. But, Jonathan has come out to deny endorsing Sheriff as the party chair. In a reaction by his media aide, Ikechukwu Eze, the ex President said addressing Sheriff as “my chairman” did not translate to endorsement of the former Borno governor.
    “The issue of endorsement never came up in the course of the visit, not at the closed door meeting with Sheriff nor during the former President’s interview with newsmen”, the statement said. He accused the media of infusing mischief in their report, stressing that he welcomed Sheriff to his house in line with a mediation role he was playing towards undying and strengthening the PDP. According to the statement, the ex president opened his doors to Sheriff upon the latter’s request, just as he had earlier done to the Makarfi-led caretaker committee members. It added that the former President was prepared to broker more talks until the issues in the leadership of the PDP were finally resolved. The statement added, “Indeed, it may interest you to know that after meeting with Sheriff, the former President also met with Senator Ahmed Makarfi, leader of the PDP Caretaker Committee, and the party’s Board of Trustees chairman, Senator Walid Jubril, later in the evening”. It emphasised that as a peace-loving leader of the party, the former President’s interest was to help reposition the PDP to enable it play a constructive role in the affairs of the nation, in view of the imperative of deepening the nation’s democracy. It stated further, “I wish to let those spinning this falsehood know that it just doesn’t add up to fly a contrived banner of endorsement in one breath, and in another, concede that the former President explained his commitment in meeting with different interest groups, towards resolving the differences in the party”.
    Those that accompanied Sheriff on the visit included a former Political Adviser Ahmed Gulak; Sheriff’s Deputy Dr. Cairo Ojougboh; National Secretray Prof Wale Oladipo and National Auditor Adewole Adyanju among others. Speaking after the meeting, Jonathan declared that there was no division within the PDP and that the differences among the camps would be addressed by elders of the party.
    Apparently ruffled by the warm reception accorded Sheriff by Jonathan, a group of ex cabinet ministers that served under Jonathan decided to also visit the ex president. Led by a former Special Duties Minister, Taminu Turaki, the ex ministers also met with Jonathan behind closed doors for more than two hours. Addressing newsmen after the meeting, Turaki said they exchanged fruitful ideas on the way forward with the ex president regarding the crisis in the party. Turaki canvassed understanding by parties to the crisis, adding that internal mediation process was ongoing.
    According to him, leaders and elders of the party are alive to their responsibilities and the need to forge ahead. Stating that the crisis in the PDP was not new, Turaki said reconciliation moves would be going hand-in-hand with the cross appeal initiated at the Supreme Court by the Makarfi camp.
    “Even after the Supreme Court must have given its verdict, we will still sit together to explore reconciliation options”, Turaki stated. The ex minister also hinted that the group would meet with other stakeholders, including Sheriff in the days ahead. Asked to give highlight of the ex ministers’ meeting with Jonathan, Turaki said the ex president himself would issue a statement to that effect. Other ex ministers that joined Turaki at the meeting with Jonathan included Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Senator Bala Mohammed, Mr. Osita Chidoka, Mr. John Odey, Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau, Alhaji Aminu Wali among others.

    Genesis of the crisis:
    The crisis was triggered by inertia at the level of leadership, shortly after the party lost its grip on political power at the centre at the 2015 general election. Following the resounding defeat at the poll, pressure intense pressure by a vocal segment of party stakeholders forced the then party chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu to resign in May 2015.
    The then Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus was then made to act as chairman, pending the election of another substantive chairman from the same geopolitical zone Mu’azu hailed from. While the party’s prescribed a period of six months for the Acting Chairman, the party leadership failed to tow the line. This led to restiveness among interested chieftains from Mu’azu’s North East zone.
    Long after the expiation Secondus’ acting tenure, Ahmed Gulak mobilised his supporters and invaded the party secretariat to take over the leadership. The ensuing crisis forced the leadership to appoint a substantive chairman from the North East, to complete Mu’azu’s truncated tenure. Sheriff was not one of the five aspirants that jostled for the position. Curiously, his name came up at the last minute and the party’s governors, led by Governors Ayo Fayose (Ekiti) and Nyesom Wike (Rivers) decided to impose Sheriff as chairman. In a swift reaction, all the critical party organs, including the BoT, the league of ex Ministers and party elders, had mobilised and united against the choice of Sheriff. The disagreements dragged for several days, but the governors eventually had their way. Sheriff was installed national chairman amid protestations by key stakeholders.
    As soon as he was made chairman, ex Borno governor started his political brinkmanship aimed at consolidating his position. With the active backing from Fayose and Wike, Sheriff was primed to become substantive chairman, to remain in office for another four years. Pronto, preparations were made to hold a convention in Port Harcourt, primarily to “coronate” Sheriff as chairman. And by tradition, Sheriff was billed to preside over the convention.
    At this point, a stakeholders group, headed by a former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana threatened to convene a parallel convention to counter the proposed one in Port Harcourt. The Gana group, comprising a good number of prominent party chieftains and ex ministers, made good their threat by assembling in Abuja for a parallel convention, to hold simultaneously with the proposed one in Port Harcourt.
    Apparently scared by the prospects of having a divided house, the organisers of the Port Harcourt convention called off the exercise. They removed Sheriff as chairman right at the botched convention ground. In his place, they had empaneled a Caretaker Committee to run the affairs of the party, pending the election of a substantive chairman. The seven-man panel was headed by Makarfi.
    But Sheriff, would have none of it, as he continued to insist that he remained the party chair. The ding-dong affair led to a litany of court cases initiated by the two camps, seeking to consolidate their hold on the party. The governors, the Bot, ex Ministers, the National Assembly caucus and other leaders of the party, took sides with the Makarfi camp. But Sheriff continued to fight on, employing every tactic in the books to outsmart his opponents.

    The case against Sheriff:
    The major issue with Sheriff is mistrust. They party organs and stakeholders are agreed in their opinion that Sheriff cannot be trusted with the leadership of the party. According to them, the ex Borno Governor has a history of betraying his political party in the past. They cited the role he played while he was a financier of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in opposition. As a chieftain of the ANPP, Sheriff had worked for the PDP against the interest of the ANPP at every election cycle since 2003. Accordingly, they have come to the conclusion that he would do the same against the interest of the PDP in the 2019 general elections. But with the judgment of the appellate court, Sheriff remained chairman, whether his opponents like it or not. And until the cross appeal filed by the Makarfi camp is decided, the PDP must learn to face the reality of having Sheriff as National Chairman.

    Sheriff’s confidence building drive:
    In a bid to build and shore up confidence among key stakeholders, Sheriff has initiated consultations across the various zones and among key elders of the party. Part of the move was his recent civil to the homes of Gen. Bababangida and former President Jonathan.
    Reacting to the various remarks by the Makarfi camp, the party chair said he would not join issues with anybody, stressing that the constitution of the party does not recognise caretaker committee. His words, “There is only one PDP and there is only one national chairman. A group of people has the right to sit and discuss as only a group of people but not as PDP. If I go down to their level to exchange words with them, then I would not be different from them.
    He added: “We don’t have anything like caretaker committee in our party. As father of the party, I will make sure everybody is united. I will make sure that everybody gets what they want in PDP. By the time I finished my convention, Nigerians will know that we mean well for the party”. But does Sheriff mean well for the PDP as he claims, or is he out to destroy the party as alleged by his antagonists? The answer lies in the belly of time. For now, Sheriff is holding tight to the crown, while Makarfi is pulling the crowd.

  • PDP crisis: Makarfi warns of breakdown of law and order

    The reopening of the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff, has continued to deepen the leadership crisis rocking the party.

    The secretariat was sealed off by the police in June 2016 at the heat of the tussle between Sheriff and the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the PDP for the control of the party.

    However, acting on the strength of the judgment by the Port Harcourt Division of the Court of Appeal that affirmed Sheriff as National Chairman, the police last Thursday reopened the secretariat for Sheriff and his team.

    But the Makarfi camp has warned the action of the police was a capable of causing a breakdown of law and order, adding that the police acted in bad faith by allowing Sheriff access to the facility.

    At a media briefing in Abuja on Monday, the spokesman of the Makarfi camp, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the police chose to obey the law only when it favoured Sheriff.

    Adeyeye lamented that the same police that refused to reopen the secretariat for the Makarfi camp when it won the same case against Sheriff at the Federal High Court, has now turned around to reopen the building for Sheriff for winning at the appellate court.

    Apparently in sympathy for the Makarfi camp, a group of women party members on Monday, staged a protest at the party secretariat to denounce the reopening of the facility to Sheriff.

    Similarly, the entire secretariat workers have also stayed away from the party office, in solidarity with the Makarfi group, which they insisted, remained the authentic leaders of the party.

    Adeyeye said the Makarfi camp has already filed an appeal at the Supreme Court challenging the Appeal Court judgment and such, the police ensure that the secretariat remained sealed until the Supreme Court delivers judgment on the matter.

    “In the light of the above, we are calling on the police and the general public and lovers of peace and democracy to ask Senator Sheriff and co to respect the on-going litigation processes.”

     

  • PDP crisis: Jonathan under fire

    PDP crisis: Jonathan under fire

    The leadership crisis tearing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) apart is now being linked to the failure of the party to field a Northerner as its presidential flag bearer in the 2015 elections.

    The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYC), factional leader of the PDP, Senator  Ahmed Makarfi, former national chairman, Dr. Mohammed Haliru and several other party chieftains  believe the story would have been different today for the PDP if it had given its ticket to  a Northerner in that election.

    Dr. Goodluck Jonathan from the Southsouth who completed  the  first term of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua and went on to win re-election in 2011 was the party’s candidate in 2015 but lost to President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner.

    The party has not known peace since then with Makarfi and former Borno State governor Ali Modu Sheriff locked in a fierce battle for the chairmanship.

    Reviewing the situation in an interview yesterday, Makarfi was confident that the party would have won the 2015 presidential election had it fielded a northern candidate.

    Makarfi opined that the ‘gang up’ against the PDP in the North would not have arisen if the party had presented a northern candidate.

    He said, the party also became too comfortable that it no longer communicated well with the people to know what they wanted, which he said made it easier for propaganda to be used against it.

    The PDP, he said, “ would have won the 2015 presidential election straight away with a northern candidate.

    “The reason is that, it would have been impossible to make an issue out of this North, South thing. We would have broken the North’s gang up, so to say, against the PDP.

    “Again, we became too comfortable. A little bit of arrogance sometimes. We were not communicating well with the people. Because we were not communicating well, we failed to get what the people were saying, and of course, that made it easier for propaganda to be used against us. And that propaganda went deep that we couldn’t do anything again.”

    A former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Dr. Mohammed Haliru is of the same view, insisting the party would have won had it fielded a northerner.

    He said the party lost because it abandoned its zoning arrangement and adopted the then incumbent Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    Jonathan himself said last week that the PDP is now poised to retake power in 2019.

    “Yes, we lost the presidential election but that doesn’t diminish us. Every other party still knows that PDP is a leading party,” Jonathan told party leaders who went to present him with the report of the Strategy Review and Inter-Party Affairs Committee of the PDP.

    “Losing the presidency is something temporary. We should be able to get that position back as long as we are able to get our acts together. I am happy that you people are working towards that,” he said.

    However, Haliru  told The Nation that the North felt shortchanged in 2015 when the party put Jonathan forward as its candidate for the election.

    Haliru said that the unfinished first term of the late President Umaru Yar’ Adua was rightly completed by Dr. Jonathan, as specified by the 1999 Constitution, “but since the two terms were meant for the North, the party ought to have fielded a northern candidate to complete the second term (from 2011-2015).”

    He said:”Yar’ Adua was not there to contest for second term, so you cannot say the second term was a Yar’ Adua/Jonathan ticket. It was only the first term that was Yar’Adua/ Jonathan, which the constitution provided for.

    “But the election of 2011, which Jonathan contested and won, should have been contested by another candidate from the north”.

    “We lost because we left the people behind on zoning and rotation. We said regardless of which part of the country you come from, you should know that you have the chance to contest for the presidency.

    “Out of arrogance, the leadership abandoned principles and the people feeling abandoned, reacted the way they reacted. So, I am not surprised. It was the abandonment of the principle of zoning that led the people to abandon the party”.

    The ex-party chair, who also served as Defence Minister under Jonathan, admitted that part of the contributing factors to Jonathan’s defeat was nostalgia among majority of Nigerians for what they viewed as the performance of the Buhari military government of 1984.

    His words: “We cannot deny the fact that because President Buhari’s military government of 1984 was interrupted after a short period of 20 months, people were nostalgic that may be if Buahri was allowed to continue, he would have done better.

    “But they forgot that the times were not the same. The problems of Nigeria in 1984 have not remained static and the people that Buhari is working with have not remained static.

    “For instance, Gen. Tunde Idiagbon is no longer here. He was the backbone of that government and a number of other people that served in that government are either dead or now too old to serve.

    “The nostalgia was for that government of 1984 headed by Buhari but also assisted by others, including Gen. Ibrahim Babangida who had clouts then.

    “It was a period where the Head of State was the Alpha and Omega. Even if Gen. Idiagbon were to be alive and serving in this government, he may not have the same influence he had back then because the powers of the leader of government under the military were different from the powers enjoyed by a president under an elected government.

    “So all these are factors we cannot forget. They felt that if Buhari could come back in 2015, he would correct everything. But the unfortunate thing is that people did not pray aright.

    “Instead of praying to God to right the wrongs, they were saying let Buhari come and right the wrongs. If you take the position of God and give it to a person, God will test that person to make sure that nobody is omnipotent but God Himself”.

    Reminded that he was the one that moved a motion at the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting shortly before the election,that paved the way for Jonathan to contest the 2015 presidential election, Dr. Haliru clarified his position.

    According to him, the motion he moved was to allow Jonathan contest the election, but not to make him the sole candidate for the election, as decided by the party leadership at the time.

    “That motion was not my motion. I saw the motion on the floor of the house. What people were saying was that Jonathan could not contest. It was not a convention.

    “It was a NEC meeting and we realized that if you rule out a sitting president, it could damage the party. But if you allow him to contest, you could defeat him at the convention.

    “So I moved the motion that he should be allowed to contest, but not as sole candidate. Sule Lamido (immediate past Jigawa State Governor) seconded the motion.

    “If you see the content of that motion, you won’t see anything like sole candidate there. Even though I saw the motion on the floor and I was asked to move it.

    “If I had seen sole candidate in it, I would not move the motion. Jonathan was allowed to contest as an aspirant. The people did not deny anyone of the right to contest.

    “There were other people that wanted to contest but the then National Working Committee of the party restricted sale of forms to other aspirants.

    “I was not one of the people who felt that Jonathan should not contest. I did not move the motion for a sole candidate because there is no provision for sole candidate in the PDP constitution.

    “Even when it is zoned to the south, northerners are allowed to contest. Even when zoned to the north, southerners are allowed to contest.

    “Remember our first convention when the presidential ticket was zoned to the south in which Chief Olusegun Obasanjo emerged, the late Abubakar Rimi also contested and he was allowed. The following one, which was also zoned to the south for Obasanjo’s second term, Rimi and some other people still contested. So PDP has no provision for sole candidate”.

    Dr. Haliru however, restated Jonathan’s position that the PDP could win the 2019 presidential election if the party could put its acts together.

    He said that many PDP members that defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) shortly before the 2015 election are now disappointed by the poor performance of the ruling party in government.

    The Kebbi State born party chief hinted that majority of the high profile defectors have already been discussing with the PDP, seeking to return to the PDP.

    He continued: “The same people that defected from the PDP and voted for the APC in 2015 to make them win, are now thoroughly disappointed. They have been coming to us.

    “They are not likely to vote for the APC ticket again. And then if you look at the election figures, if you remove the five PDP states where their governors defected to the APC, you find that the APC would not have been anywhere near winning the election.

    “If you remove the two million votes that Buhari got from Kano. He only defeated Jonathan with about two million votes. So remove votes from Kano, Sokoto, Kwara and Adamawa which used to be PDP states from the votes given to Buhari.

    “But now they are all disappointed by the APC. So you can say that it’s PDP that made Buhari win in 2015 because we alienated our people. Now we are reorganising and we are inviting our people back.

    “Even the claim that APC won because of merger is not true. If you look at the Southwest, it was 50/50 for the PDP and the APC. Jonathan was almost 50/50 with Buhari in the Southwest.

    “And PDP owns the Southsouth and the Southeast. So looking at these figures, one can predict that we will come back to power in 2019.

    “The only thing is that if a third party merges, as some people are talking about a mega party. But we will do our best to ensure that PDP is repositioned to offer credible alternative, rather than forcing people to go for a third party.

    In a separate interview, Senator Grace Bent, who represented Adamawa South in the Sixth Senate, said: “In all fairness, Jonathan should not have had the ticket, especially when you see the need to go by our zoning policy,” she said.

    “With adherence to our zoning formula, we would have been able to look around for a credible candidate from the northern part of the county, to contest for that office.”

    Bent said: “With the way things are going in the party now, I am afraid that the issue of zoning is going to be rubbished. Everybody now wants to give it a shot; Igbos are beginning to agitate for it, the North is insisting that they must do their own second term and there is so much agitation.

    “For executive office, believe me, I am completely for zoning; it is a must that zoning or rotation must be practiced for executive office.

    “For executive office, it is compulsory that we must maintain zoning policy and adhere strictly to it, especially when we consider the complexity of our mosaic nature – our multi-ethnic, multi-religious setting. With such, we do not have a choice.

    “That was one of the reasons why president Obasanjo insisted that a South-South person should have a shot at the presidency and that is why he and other party people supported Goodluck Jonathan so that the Ijaws could feel a sense of belonging.

    “The country belongs to all of us and no  particular group  can  claim  its  leadership  as  an  exclusive  right.   No!   We   must   stand   by zoning policy always, otherwise, we are going to create unnecessary chaos in the country”.

    The national leader of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYC) Comrade Shetima Yerima, also  blamed ex-President Jonathan for the present crisis rocking PDP.

    Speaking by phone Shetima said:  “The party wouldn’t have been in the crisis it is currently enmeshed in if Jonathan had allowed a northerner to run in 2015.

    “On moral ground, Jonathan should have stepped down and allowed a northern to run based on agreement within the party and other stakeholders. He should have allowed a northerner to contest to respect the agreement. But on constitutional ground that supersedes every other interest, he had the right to contest.

    “What is happening in the party shows that they don’t have the love of the people and the country at heart. They are only trying to satisfy some interests in the party. This is what brought us to the state we are today.  For me, it is destined that Buhari must be the president of Nigeria. it was destined that Jonathan must disappoint people and go ahead to contest, it was destined that the PDP must make that blunder for Buhari to come in.”

    Mr. Austine Medaiyedu, Special adviser to former Governor Idris Wada of Kogi state said :”The truth of the matter is that GEJ was no longer sellable for the Presidential election in 2015.

    “He surrounded himself with sycophants who could not tell him the truth. Don’t forget also the accusations of the purported single term  agreement he signed and vowed not to run again.

    “More importantly, the parallel campaign organisation floated by his wife was one of his undoings. The climax of his failure was the unresolved internal crisis in PDP. Five sitting governors defected to APC and we went into the election without considering the implications. Zoning was another factor for his failure. The PDP refused to zone presidency to the North as widely requested for.”

    A chieftain of the party in Ondo State and former media aide to Governor Olusegun Mimiko,Mr Sunday Menukuro maintained that former President Goodluck Jonathan committed a blunder by contesting the 2015 presidential election.

    He noted that the people had been fed up with his administration and should have allowed a Northerner to run for the office.

    “He  should have allowed natural justice to take place by not re-contesting the election. It was out of picking the better devil out of two that the eminent academic, Prof Wole Soyinka supported the incumbent President,Muhammadu Buhari because the people had no choice,” Menukuro said.

    Menukuro however expressed optimism that the PDP crisis would soon be over and would get back to power in 2019.

    Factional chairman of the party in Kwara state Prince Sunday Fagbemi said the Jonathan candidacy in the 2015 election was responsible for the defeat of the party.

    Prince Fagbemi who is loyal to Ahmed Makarfi PDP said: “Candidly speaking the fortune of PDP would have been enhanced if Dr Goodluck Jonathan had not contested the last presidential elections.

    “If PDP had fielded a northern candidate all retired military officers would have voted against Buhari because many of them know his background.

    “The outcome of the elections showed that many northern PDP members, even in states that we had super ministers mobilised for APC or were unconcerned.”

    A former youth leader and state chairmanship aspirant of the PDP in Enugu State, Sir Tony Nwachukwu said the failure of PDP in the 2015 presidential election was caused by making Jonathan the flagbearer.

    His words: “ýFormer President Goodluck Jonathan should not have featured as PDP Presidential Candidate in 2015.

     “His resolve to contest destabilized PDP and the divide sustains to date. It is unfortunate and regrettable.”

     Ntufam John Okon, immediate past chairman, PDP, Cross River State, said: “Those things are past issues, but we felt that we should give him (Jonathan) an opportunity to run, but like you noticed he was not acceptable to  the nation and that is why he lost the election.

    “So it is already a gone matter. I was part of his delegates, to give him opportunity to rule. I believe we would have done better if Jonathan had nominated somebody from the north.

    “But then, what if a candidate came from the North and Jonathan did not support him? It wouldn’t have been better too because he was the sitting president. And normally in our experience you give the president a second term to be able to do it. Just like I said, he was not well received by the nation and that is why we lost the election. So we have learnt.”

    However, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide said that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost the 2015 Presidential election because the party’s decisions at the state levels were unpopular and selfish.

    The foremost Ijaw group said the party breached the principles of internal democracy during their various primaries in states.

    The President of IYC, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, said the party imposed candidates at various electoral positions in the state including the governorship level compelling its members to vote against the party at the general elections.

    He insisted that former President Goodluck Jonathan despite his popularity was a victim of protest votes caused by the greed and insensitivity of PDP cabals.

    He said: “The PDP was busy imposing candidates while the opposition, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was getting stronger. When you see that the opposition was getting stronger as a party you should have come up with a strategy of making sure that the will of the people in your primaries prevailed.

    “But almost all their primaries had issues and APC was clever to wait for them. Anywhere the PDP failed, the APC took advantage and that was what happened.

    “If Jonathan breached the party’s zoning principle, how come he got over 12 million votes? Jonathan lost narrowly because the party failed to allow internal democracy prevailed when they were carrying out primaries.

    “They were imposing unpopular candidates. In a lot of places the APC won, the candidates didn’t even spend money. They benefitted from protest votes”.

    The party’s publicity secretary in Bayelsa State,Jonathan’s home state, Mr. Osom Macbere,is also of the view that the PDP  lost the election because its members especially from the North betrayed Jonathan.

    Macbere, a lawyer, insisted that it would be foolhardy to blame Jonathan for PDP’s misfortunes, when it was an open secret that almost all the structures of the party in the north supported President Muhammadu Buhari because of their tribal loyalty.

    He described the current crisis rocking the party as the Karma resulting from the betrayal against Jonathan and advised the party to deal with its self-inflicted injuries instead trading blames.

    He said: “Overtime, the people of the north have been known to be lacking in real party loyalty. They are only loyal to their tribe and during that period, their loyalty swayed from Jonathan to Buhari because they wanted to support their kith and kin.

    “Their actions were guided by ethnicity and tribalism because Jonathan was not their own. How would they have though that any President would not have to run in an election where he was the first candidate.

    “The man was a sitting President and wouldn’t it have been abnormality for a sitting President to have chickened out running to protect his office simply because of any consideration other than his qualification?

    “So, they were just being ethnic, parochial and tribalistic in their thinking that he ought not to have run. If Jonathan were a northerner, that line of reasoning wouldn’t have been pertinent.

    “Jonathan was not a northerner of their own extraction that was why they betrayed him. They wanted him to concede his right to run to one of their own and because he didn’t do that he was betrayed.

    “So, Jonathan didn’t lose because Jonathan was not a popular candidate. He lost by dint of high level betrayal from his own party men and women from the north.

    “The crisis is PDP is still the crisis of the betrayal that they had done to Jonathan and the karma that follows every situation where propriety is never the order of the day.

    “Had they not betrayed Jonathan, all that we are enmeshed in now wouldn’t have been there. So, the betrayal, the treachery and the tribalistic and ethnic thinking of the northern cabal was the reason Jonathan failed and remains the reason the party has been in crisis up till now.

    “Their primordial thinking that everything that has to do with political power is the exclusive reserve of the north has not been helping matters in our polity.”

  • Police reopen PDP secretariat for Sheriff

    Police reopen PDP secretariat for Sheriff

    The police authorities on Thursday reopened the national secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff.

    Sheriff, who was accompanied by some members of his National Working Committee (NWC) and a retinue of aides and supporters, arrived the secretariat at 6:00 p.m.

    He made his way straight to his office but could not stay beyond 15 minutes, as thick dust had covered every piece of furniture in the building.

    Addressing journalists in his dusty office, Sheriff said he only came to access the situation on ground, with the view to resuming work on Tuesday.

    “We came to see what renovation and cleaning to be done. While that is going on, we would continue with our consultation. We will do everything humanly possible to ensure that nobody is victimised for holding different opinions,” Sheriff said.

    He reiterated his resolve to take the party back to the people at the grassroots, adding that “it is not enough for some people to sit in Abuja here and say they want to choose party leaders for the people in the village.”

    The secretariat was sealed off in June 2015, at the peak of a fierce leadership tussle between Sheriff and the Ahmed Makarfi -led National Caretaker Committee of the party.

     

  • Makarfi camp slams Okorocha over comments on PDP crisis

    The Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State for his comments on the party crisis.

    Okorocha was quoted in the media as calling on members of the PDP to stop heating up the polity by respecting the Court of Appeal judgment that affirmed Ali Modu Sheriff as national chairman of the party.

    Okorocha is a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

    In a statement on Wednesday, the spokesman of the Makarfi camp, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said Okorocha’s statement did not come as a surprise.

    “He (Okorocha) is not known to be a person who exercises caution or restraint before making unguarded statements. His constant vituperation on matters small or big is indicative of an over-excited mind desperately in need of a large dose of tranquilizer.

    “It is curious that while he would want the PDP to accept the verdict of the Court of Appeal and not exercise its right of appeal to the Supreme Court, he was nowhere to be found when Sheriff refused to accept the judgment of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, but instead proceeded to the Court of Appeal.

    “In any case, what is Okorocha’s special interest in PDP matter? Need Nigerians any further conviction that the APC is the unseen hand stoking the fire of crisis in the PDP and Sheriff and his cohorts mere puppets in their hands?

     

    “The desperate attempt by APC to exonerate itself only further exposed its duplicity. The police excuse for preventing a peaceful assembly of distinguished PDP members on alleged but unproven security threat is an insult to the intelligence of Nigerians.

    “It is the duty of the police to provide security if they suspect any breach of peace. It is a gross abnegation of its responsibilities to prevent people from exercising their constitutionally guaranteed right of peaceful assembly.  No one is in doubt today that the police has submitted itself to total control and direction by the APC,” Adeyeye said.

    He urged the governor to advise his friends or agents in the PDP to fully comply with the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

    “The status quo ante May 21, 2016 is the full National Working Committee (NWC) elected at previous conventions and not the cronies that Sheriff singlehandedly appointed and who are parading themselves as officers of the party,” Adeyeye added.

    The spokesman restated the resolve of the Makarfi camp to pursue its case to a logical conclusion in the interest of justice and Nigerian democracy.