PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) National Chairman Alhaji Ali Modu Sheriff has said God will decide his fate in the 2019 presidential election.
Sheriff, who stated this at a news conference in Abuja yesterday, ascribed every political office he had held in the past to God.
“Every position I occupied in life, God made it possible. I am a firm believer in the will of God. I told you I will not run for the chairmanship position, the rest we leave to God,” he said.
Sheriff made the statement when reporters asked him if he would seek the presidential ticket of the PDP in the 2019 general election.
One of the fears being expressed by many of his antagonists among stakeholders in the PDP was the suspicion that he might have been scheming for the party’s presidential ticket ahead of the 2019 poll.
He, however, affirmed his decision not to run for the party’s chairmanship, saying the position has been zoned to the southern part of the country.
“I will not run for chairmanship. As for the rest, I leave it to God to decide,”he stated, adding that it is left for the convention committee to decide which zone in the South will produce the party chairman.
Sheriff, however, did not rule out the possibility of some of his colleagues in the party’s National Working Committee (NWC) running for positions at the convention.
The party chairman further hinted that he would be meeting with the National Assembly caucus this week to get their input in the planned convention.
According to him, the party’s reconciliation committee chaired by Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson has been meeting with the various stakeholders as part of the consultations towards the planned convention.
He accused the PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, of being reluctant to embrace peace and reconciliation being brokered by the various stakeholders.
“I called Makarfi personally after the Appeal Court judgment and he said he would get back to me. But he never did. I also spoke with Senator Ben Obi (Caretaker Committee Secretary) on two occasions,” Sheriff added.
Tag: Sheriff
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Sheriff: God ‘ll decide my fate in 2019 presidential race
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Makarfi accuses Dickson of taking sides in PDP crisis
The chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has accused the Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, of taking sides in the party’s leadership crisis.
Dickson, who led the PDP reconciliation committee, has called on Makarfi to resign and allow the party’s court backed chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, to conduct a convention.
Makarfi, in a statement issued on Monday by the spokesman of the Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said for Dickson to accomplish the task of reconciliation, he must remain honest and impartial.
“We are worried that Governor Dickson has seriously undermined the work of his committee by taking sides with Sheriff. We are even more concerned about his open declaration of war on the caretaker committee. Rather than reconciling, the party is being further pulled apart.
“We are not amused by the urge for us to surrender the destiny of the party to Sheriff who brazenly and without any remorse, destroyed our chances in the Edo and Ondo State governorship elections.
“Governor Dickson will recall all the efforts made by former Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State and his good self to persuade Sheriff and his cohorts not to destroy the Ondo elections. Everything ended in futility. Those are the same people he wants us to trust with our destiny,” Makarfi said.
Describing the call by Dickson on Makarfi and his team to resign as shocking and embarrassing, the statement said the caretaker committee enjoys the support of 80 percent of PDP members.
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Sheriff won’t contest at PDP convention, says Dickson
The Chairman of the National Reconciliation Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Governor Seriake Dickson, yesterday said his committee had proposed a negotiated National Unity convention to hold next quarter.
He also said court-backed National Chairman Ali Modu Sheriff, had agreed not to seek election at the convention.
He said members of the convention committee comprise seven governors, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu, seven governors, past presiding officers at the National Assembly, Senators, ex-ministers and members of the Board of Trustees, among others.
The Bayelsa State governor faulted Chairman of the Caretaker Committee Sen. Ahmed Makarfi for attacking him.
Dickson, who unfolded the new peace template in Abuja, said the reconciliation committee had been consulting with all stakeholders.
He said: The reconciliation committee met to review our position in the light of the court of appeal judgment and we said look, let us formulate a realistic, practical and strategic response to that reality because in the end it is only about strategy.
“The template we are proposing will lead to a negotiated National Unity convention because the inability to hold a unity convention or a successful convention at all is at the heart of the crisis. And that was why when that failed to happen, we appointed Makarfi caretaker, to midwife another convention, the second one too failed.
“We are consulting and in the next couple of days and weeks it would be very clear. But let me also say there are issues before you have a convention, there are crises, some developments in states and some zones; so what we expect is that various teams will go and resolve some of those issues before we move to the stage of the convention.”
He gave a breakdown of the proposed National Unity Convention Committee.
Dickson said: “This convention committee should not be done like the other one. Our template says that there should be seven governors, people to be nominated should be nominated from the key institutions of the party and by the way all these key institutions are with Makarfi not Sheriff. This is why I cannot understand what Makarfi’s problem is, unless he sees himself and his role as either that of, not of a caretaker but a landlord or even an undertaker of PDP.
“Otherwise all the people we have suggested in the template are all institutions working as we speak with Makarfi; of close to hundred he has almost 80 something. Because of that we then put 12 names to be nominated by Sheriff even that one we said with consultation with stakeholders because we thought Sheriff would say no. We actually expected Sheriff to say no, not Makarfi to shout. Sheriff has accepted all of them.
“This is the convention committee members’ template; seven Governors, seven Senators led by the Deputy Senate President who is the head of the caucus; 12 House of Reps members led by the House Minority Leader. BoT is to nominate six members at one per zone; former ministers to nominate six at one per zone; and all former presiding officers of the National Assembly who are still with us to be automatic members and a number of them are with Makarfi. And the national vice chairmen of every zone of the party, all six of them and all these people are with Makarfi. And then we said the chapter chairmen, three of them per zone should be there, making 18 of them. And then we said six prominent women leaders, six prominent youth leaders and so on and so forth. All these institutions are with Makarfi.
“So what we are designing was a ringed fence that Sheriff if we all work together will be unable to, so that his role will be in accordance with the laws of the party to convene and preside. After he makes his speech we move a motion to dissolve and with that dissolution all these arguments would have ended and then we go into the election. That is what we thought is the quickest way out of this crisis.
“And when I consulted Makarfi, but I didn’t consult Sheriff; I left committee meetings to brief Makarfi that this is what the committee is doing, there is urgency now and I had intelligence about the time table that INEC was to release, that this is the time to put our party together. I am fast tracking this process, this is what I am proposing.
“Makarfi drew my attention that some persons are saying that their tenure had not elapsed and they might take us to court. I say yes, thanks for drawing that to my attention, I will include it in the template that those people must resign, so that all offices must be vacant to give the party a fresh beginning and I included it in the template. Sheriff and his people have accepted it, everything.”
Asked of the attitude of the two factional leaders of the party to the convention, Dickson added: “As we speak we have a situation where Sheriff said a convention as soon as possible, a convention that he will not contest and we are waiting for these institutions to send in their names and Makarfi is the one now saying no. He wants PDP crisis to fester and playing one game or the other and attacking my person.”
Dickson added: “Sheriff, after the Court of Appeal judgment has said he would be prepared for quick national convention. We thought that was a victory for PDP. He has also said he will not contest at that convention; that is victory for the PDP.
“But the challenge however is that a number of people said they cannot trust him; well I said that is valid but you need to engage more and ring fence the convention, how? This is when the template comes in.
“I take exceptions to some of the public statements that Makarfi and some of his supporters have been making, I don’t want to join issues with anybody because I am for peace, I am for reconciliation.
“ All I want to remind Makarfi and his supporters that whereas it is good for him Makarfi that in every state because of this crisis, you have a so-called Makarfi group and a Sheriff group, the party is polarized down the line, it may be good for him, he may be enjoying it but this party is big”
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PDP crisis: Sheriff discontinues appeal at Supreme Court
The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff, has indicated his party’s decision to discontinue its appeal at Supreme Court against the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Port-Harcourt division delivered on February 17, 2017.
In the judgment, the Appeal Court upheld the Sheriff-led executive of the PDP as its actual leadership body.
Sheriff’s decision to withdraw the appeal, marked: SC.133/2017, believed to have been filed on February 27, 2017 the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, against the February 17 judgment, is contained in a motion he filed before the Supreme Court on March 16, 2017.
The motion for discontinuance was preceded by a “Form 19” jointly endorsed on March 15, 2017 by Sheriff, Bashir Maidugu (Acting National Legal Avdiser) and Prof Wale Oladipo (National Secretary, PBP).
The form was also endorsed in respect of the appeal marked: SC/133/2017, with the PDP as appellant. It states: “take notice that the appellant herein intends and doth hereby wholly withdraws its appeal against all the respondents in the above-mentioned appeal.”
Respondents in the appeal are Sheriff and Prof Oladipo (sued as representatives of PDP’s National Executive Committee and National Working Committee removed at the National Convention held in Port-Harcourt on May 21, 2016), the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and State Security Service (SSS).
Sheriff and Prof Oladipo argued in the motion for discontinuance that no ground of law supported the appeal.
They argued that by virtue of the February 17 judgment by the Appeal Court, Makarfi and other members of his committee could no longer take decisions for th party, an as such were incompetent to institute any legal process in the party’s name.
They said: “More importantly, however, the persons, who have instigated the filing of the appeal and instructed lawyers to act for the appellant (namely Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Senator Ben Obi, and Mr. Dayo Adeyeye, who continue to style and parade themselves as the ‘National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party’) do not have the authority or power to do so.
“Senator Ahmed Makarfi, Senator Ben Obi and Mr. Adeyeye, who seek to hide behind corporate veil of the PDP are, in fact, doing so in furtherance of disregard of the judgment of the lower court, which clearly amounts to exposing the administration of justice to disrepute and public odium as evidenced by their utterances against the Justices of the lower court after the delivery of the judgment of the lower court.
“The corporate personality of the appellant can only be invoked by its legal alter ego, vide the National Working Committee/National Executive Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, consisting of the first and second respondents (Sheriff and Oladipo) and other officers represented by them, not Senators Ahmed Makarfi, Senator Ben Obi, and Mr. Adeyeye who are not officers of the appellant (the PDP) at all, as confirmed by the judgment of the lower court,” they said.
Oladipo stated, in a supporting affidavit, that a letter has been written to Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), to stop acting as counsel for the PDP. He added that the duo of Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN) has been appointed in his (Olanipekun’s) place.
Oladipo said: “The appropriate alter ego of the appellant and its moving minds (as authorised by the Constitution of the party and confirmed by the judgment and express order of the lower court, which required that parties revert to status quo as at the May 27, 2016, have now directed that a notice of discontinuance of this appeal be filed and instructed Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) and Dr. Alex Iziyon (SAN) to act as counsel for the appellant (PDP) to effect the will of the appellant as expressed in the said notice of discontinuance.
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Dickson rallies 22 ‘state chairmen’ for Sheriff
•They are dissidents, says Makarfi
The leadership crisis plaguing the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a new twist, with the Governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Seriake Dickson mobilising support for the party’s court-backed National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff.
Apparently backed by Dickson, a designated group of 22 chairmen of state chapters of the PDP, met in Abuja Friday night to declare support for Sheriff.
The group also endorsed the planned national convention to be superintended by Sheriff, as outlined in a report authored by a reconciliation committee chaired by the Bayelsa State governor.
But in a swift reaction, the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee dismissed the purported endorsement as a ruse, describing participants at the meeting as “dissidents within the party.”
Makarfi, in a statement on yesterday by the spokesman of the Caretaker Committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, said the meeting, held by the group was illegal.
At the meeting, which was convened by the Bayelsa State chairman of the PDP, Mr. Moses Cleopas, the chairmen expressed concerns over prospects of the crisis jeopardising the future and stability of the party.
In a communiqué read on behalf of the group by the chapter chairman of the Federal Capital Territory, Alhaji Yunusa Suleiman, the party chiefs said their decision to back Sheriff was borne out of respect for the rule of law.
According to them, the February 17 Court of Appeal judgment that affirmed Sheriff as the national chairman of the party remained sacrosanct and must be respected.
They, however, added that their support for Sheriff was without prejudice to the appeal, filed by the Makarfi group and which is still pending before the Supreme Court.
Describing political solution as the best way to resolve the crisis, the chairmen expressed fears that the PDP would continue to lose some of its key chieftains to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) if the crisis persists.
The communiqué said, “The PDP chapter chairmen are very concerned about the crisis engulfing the party as it is degenerating into several defections from the party across the nation.
“Bearing in mind the upcoming presidential election timeline recently announced by the INEC as well as other elections fast approaching, and as key political actors of the polity, we cannot sit back and allow our party degenerate to this level and have thus decided to come forward and proffer solutions to this crisis.
“In line with the only template presented by the Peace and Reconciliation Committee of our party, headed by Henry Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State, we wish to state that we support the recommendation that a political solution is the best and only solution to our crisis without prejudice to the ongoing judicial processes.
“We are also in support of the committee’s recommendation for an all inclusive unity convention to be held as soon as possible.
“We therefore suggest that every organ of the party, group or individuals that have anything to add to the aforementioned recommendations should present same for consideration and deliberations as we believe this will deepen our internal democracy and support an all inclusive regeneration of the party.”
The statement added, “We call upon all party leaders and members to make the necessary sacrifices to ensure the survival of the party at this critical period of our history
“We also call upon the National Chairman Senator Ali Modu Sherriff and the National Working Committee (NWC) to abide by the recommendations of the Peace and Reconciliation Committee for the sake of our great party.”
The 22 states chairmen that signed the communique were those of Jigawa, Adamawa, Niger, Gombe, Taraba, Zamfara, Yobe and Kebbi.
Others are Kwara, Bayelsa, Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Imo, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Kogi, Benue, Cross River and the FCT.
But the Makarfi camp insisted that many of the participants at the meeting were not elected state chairmen of the PDP, saying a good number of them were “double dealers”.
Makarfi continued, “We wish to state without ambiguity that the action of these elements is a ruse, lies from the pit of hell and a mere continuation of the impunity of Senator Sheriff and his dissident backers foisted on the party.
“For the records, we wish to make it abundantly clear that many of those men are not elected state chairmen of our party, not at any time, even when Senator Sheriff was the recognised chairman of the party.
“Many of those who attended the meeting and their sponsors are double dealers and in politics such as we play in Nigeria, it is not uncommon to find those who will run with the hare and at the same time hunt with the fox.
“Nigerians should also be aware that since the Appeal Court judgment of Port Harcourt Division pronounced the May 21, 2016 convention held in the same city illegal, Senator Sherrif and his men have been making frantic efforts at causing more problems for the party by going round the states, disorganising the party at state levels by giving recognition to illegal persons as chairmen.“The continued parade of Dr Cairo Ojougboh as Deputy National Chairman and Bernard Mikko as Acting National Publicity Secretary of the PDP are acts of impunity and will be challenged in court.
“We make bold to say that the National Caretaker Committee did not suggest the resignation of Senator Sheriff as panacea for peace but former President Goodluck Jonathan did.
“The former President suggested the resignation of all NWC members returned by the Court of Appeal. By the same token, it was also suggested that the National Caretaker Committee members should also resign.
“We wish to restate our commitment to the peace deal and suggestions by the former president at achieving it.”END
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PDP crisis: I won’t quit, Sheriff replies Makarfi
•Says no worthy captain abandons ship midway
The court-backed national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),Senator Ali Modu Sheriff yesterday told those canvassing his resignation as a way out of the crisis tearing the party asunder to forget it.
He said he is not sold on quitting because a worthy captain does not abandon his troubled ship mid-sea.
“There can be no aircraft without a captain, or a ship without a captain,” Sheriff told reporters after a breakfast meeting in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State at the country home of his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh.
“Anybody wanting a captain of a ship to abandon his ship in the middle of the sea wants the ship to capsize. We do not want PDP to capsize .PDP will always get their leaders through a democratically elected process,” he added.
Some party members believe one viable way out of the crisis is for both Sheriff and his rival, chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee,Senator Ahmed Makarfi to resign.
But Sheriff recalled that he once offered to do that while Makarfi refused to do same.
His words: “When I offered to resign, just because I wanted the party to survive, the very man talking today said even if I resigned, he will not resign so that he would destroy the PDP.
“But we will not allow him do this.We have said if your intention is to destroy the party, we will not let you do this. The Court of Appeal has made its pronouncement; that whatever he is standing for is not PDP”.
He branded those kicking against the recommendation of the PDP reconciliation committee headed by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State as “agents of destruction” seeking to destroy the party.
He accused Senator Makarfi of having an agenda different from that of the PDP, but vowed that the ideals of the founding fathers of the party will ultimately defeat the forces threatening the unity of the party.
He said: “We set up this Dickson committee even before we envisaged any problem anywhere.
“It was the NEC of the PDP that set up that committee.If it was a committee that was set up under my leadership and all party faithful were present at the NEC meeting; if they make a recommendation that will be a solution for our party why should I reject it?
“ I am here to build the party, not to destroy it. The working committee of my party totally accepted the roadmap that Dickson put out.
“Anybody that kicks against that roadmap; they are the agents of destruction .They have an agenda which they are not letting Nigerians to know. Their agenda is not PDP’s; it is something different.
“ They were sent to destroy the PDP. This party belongs to us.”
Taking another look at the crowd of PDP supporters who had gathered to receive him,Sheriff said: “Who are the real PDP and those people who want PDP to grow and those that want the party destroyed?
“I can assure you this party that was put together by its founding fathers will remain the greatest party in Africa”.
On the chances of the PDP in the 2019 general elections following its unending crisis, Sheriff said the party lost the last elections because of the culture of impunity but stressed that the current executive led by him will put an end to the impunity.
He said:”Why the PDP lost the election to APC at the central was because of the impunity that I am fighting today. “I am working to cancel impunity from the party. We want the people’s choices to man the offices not the candidates brought by Ali Modu Sheriff. We must allow the party to have their way. Democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people and not somebody who wants to plant a governor in Borno, in Lagos; No. Then it is no longer government of the people.”
Also speaking,Dr. Ojougboh said the
the Ali Modu Sheriff’s camp was against suggestions that both Makarfi and Sheriff should resign, adding that ex-President Jonathan specifically instructed Sheriff after his meeting with the PDP governors to fashion out a strategy for reconciling aggrieved party members and that the conversation never dwelled on both party leaders resigning their positions.
His words, “Anybody who is talking about Sheriff resigning is infantile, discourteous , impunity personified and self- serving, envious of the hard won victory of Ali Modu Sheriff and the fact that Sheriff is putting the party back on track. We are therefore stating very seriously that the issue of Ali Modu Sheriff resigning should never be discussed at any forum.
“ It will not be entertained and we will not listen to it .W are ready for the convention and we are working assiduously to ensure that everybody is carried along for an effective generally acceptable convention that will usher in a new executive that will deliver the PDP in 2019”.
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‘Expect new party, if Sheriff wins at Supreme Court’
A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and member of the House of Representatives, Ladi Adebutu-Kessington, has said that members of the party loyal to the Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee may form a new party, if the National Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff, wins at the Supreme Court.
Adebutu-Kessington, who spoke with reporters in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, after a factional Southwest caucus meeting, said the anti-Sheriff elements in the PDP would wait for the determination of the appeal filed at the apex court.
The lawmaker, who represents Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North Constituency, said the Makarfi-led committee has the right to convene a meetings of the faction loyal to it, despite the Court of Appeal verdict validating Sheriff’s mandate.
He said: “The appeal is still pending at the Supreme Court and we are waiting for the outcome. We that believe in the Ahmed Makarfi-led leadership have the rights to convene any meeting, despite the Appeal Court’s ruling which validated Sheriff’s faction.
“It was not stated anywhere in the judgment that we are no longer members of the PDP; we are still bonafide members. But, let me tell you, people of like minds within the party will surely come together to decide their political fate, if Sheriff wins the appeal.”
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Sheriff, Makarfi bicker over governors’ N50m stipend
ARE the party’s governors giving N50 million monthly to the Markarfi-led caretaker committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
The accusation and counter accusation were being exchanged yesterday by the caretaker committee and the court-backed National chairman Ali Modu Sheriff.
Deputy National Chairman Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, alleged that Makarfi’s opposition to the planned convention stemmed from a N50 million monthly subvention the caretaker committee has been collecting from the party’s governors.
“They know that the N50 million monthly subvention Makarfi gets from the governors will stop after the reconciliation and convention. They know that as soon as the ongoing reconciliation pulls through they will no longer exist”, Ojougboh said.
But spokesman of the Makarfi group Dayo Adeyeye described Ojougboh’s allegation as blackmail that is too cheap and too simplistic.
“This is a lie from the pit of hell and a very cheap and unintelligent attempt at blackmail. It is a known fact by all critical stakeholders of the party and even the staff that the National Caretaker Committee have from inception been hamstrung by inadequate finance.
“So much so that simple secretariat duties have been a struggle while we have been unable to pay staff salaries of just N18 million a month. Members of the National Caretaker Committee do not enjoy any remuneration.
“The governors are all alive and are free to come forward and declare publicly their level of contributions to the National Caretaker Committee since May 21, 2016”, Adeyeye retorted.
According to him, it’s normal for organs of the party to freely make contributions towards the running of the party, stressing that there is nothing illegal about receiving contributions from party members.
“Our only regret is that these contributions have not been forthcoming as expected, given the heavy weight of responsibilities placed before us and especially the burden of having to deal with distractions caused by Senator Sheriff and his cohorts.
“Nevertheless, no matter how little, it is better to be funded by our party members than by the All Progressive Congress (APC) as is the case with Senator Sheriff and his cohorts.
“Dr. Cairo Ojougboh should tell us which APC governor, minister or official bought Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for them? Governor Fayose has also made a public allegation that Senator Sheriff had received $1 million from the APC to organise a new convention. Senator Sheriff is yet to publicly refute the allegation.
“The only thing that matters to Dr. Ojougboh is his own selfish and personal interest to be Deputy National Chairman at all cost. If he is offered that position today by the party, he would not think twice to abandon Sheriff. He has no locus to speak or act on behalf of the party.”
Makarfi also offered to resign his position and called on Sheriff to also quit.
Makarfi said he was ready to resign, in line with the directive of former President Goodluck Jonathan asking him and Sheriff to step aside to allow the ongoing reconciliation efforts achieve results.
But Sheriff has declined, insisting that he would go ahead to conduct the party’s planned national convention, tentatively fixed for June 30 by a reconciliation committee headed by the Bayelsa State Governor Dickson.
The two factions traded accusations at separate media briefings in Abuja yesterday.
Adeyeye said Makarfi and Sheriff’s resignation would create a level-playing field for the party to build trust and confidence in the members.
Adeyeye said, “We accepted President Goodluck Jonathan and the governors’ comprehensive political solution. It called for the resignation of Senator Sheriff and the so- called NWC and also the National Caretaker Committee to create a level playing field for all, and to build trust among all members.”
Rebuffing the call for resignation, Sheriff, who spoke through Ojougboh, accused Makarfi of scheming to get the party’s presidential ticket for the 2019 election.
Ojougboh said Makarfi’s presidential ambition was stalling reconciliation efforts in the party, adding that the same reason made the former Kaduna State Governor oppose the planned convention under Sheriff.
Said he: “Makarfi wants a situation where he will tailor-make the convention to suit his interest because he has come out to say that he will be contesting for the presidency of the country.
“We are very mindful that we are not going to tie our party around any individual. That is why Sheriff said he would throw everything open. That is why we are studying the position of the reconciliation committee and that is good enough to advance our party.” -
S/West PDP threatens Makarfi, Sheriff peace deal
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) peace deal brokered by the Governor Seriake Dickson-led reconciliation committee has run into a brick wall in the Southwest.
Leading party chieftains in the zone are in a quandary on how the two factions in the area are going to reconcile and work together as before.
One of the factions is with Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Senator Ahmed Makarfi while the other lines up behind Senator Buruji Kashamu (Ogun East) and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.
The reconciliation committee, The Nation gathered, failed to device means of uniting the two camps just yet.
Fayose and Kashamu, party sources said, are having difficulty in agreeing on which of the factional executive committees in the six states of the zone are authentic or not going by the ruling of the Appeal court which affirmed Senator Modu Sherif as the legitimate national Chairman of the party.
Sources also said the two factions are not favourably disposed to the idea of having the state executive committees harmonized ahead of the proposed unity convention.
In effect, it may be impossible for the reconciliation committee or the convention planning committee, as the case may be, to draw up an acceptable delegate list for the zone.
Kashamu and Makanjuola Ogundipe, who are the arrowheads of the Sheriff faction in the zone are said to be insisting that their factional executives across the states in the zone remain the authentic leaders even when some of the members of the said executives were handpicked following the factionalization of the party.
The Fayose faction has also rejected the harmonization of the executives in Ekiti State where Ogundipe also hails from. The situation, if it persists, party sources said, will make the processes that will lead to the proposed unity convention very difficult, if not impossible, in the zone.
According to one source, the process of reconciliation and harmonization is proving much easier in other zones of the country. The Southwest, which is being touted by party stakeholders to produce the next chairman of the party, is the major headache of promoters of the much awaited unity convention.
“Party leaders and other stakeholders have been meeting over a possible solution to the logjam in the Southwest zone. The region is where the factionalization of the party is the most serious. The personal differences between Fayose and Kashamu, which continue to fester unabated, even after the latest efforts to unite the party, are making things difficult,” the source said.
“Though nothing has come out of the meetings, I can tell you that our leaders are determined to break the ice because without resolving the many issues plaguing the party in the Southwest, a unity convention, as planned by the reconciliation committee, may simply be an impossibility.
“Going by the pronouncement of the appeal court which recognized Sheriff as the national Chairman, it is easy to determine the authentic executive committees in the states of other zones of the country, but it is not so in the Southwest where state excos were in themselves fictionalized and reconstituted by the various factions.”
Meanwhile, in a bid to tidy up its strategies ahead of the convention, the Makarfi faction in the zone may have zoned the national chairmanship of the party to Lagos State, with Chief Bode George, former deputy national chairman of the party, looking good to get the support of the Fayose-led camp.
Sources close to the leadership of the faction in the zone told The Nation that although the proposed procedure for the said national convention is still being discussed by the parties, the Southwest zone is already strategising on how to ensure a hitch free contest for the national chairmanship position should it be zoned to the region.
“The issue has been discussed and it was agreed that Lagos State should get the national chairmanship if zoned to us. Other positions likely to be given to us have also being zoned. This is basically to ensure that we present a common front whenever the convention is to be held,” our source said.
But sources close to the Kashamu camp insisted that the Ogun senator will never agree to the candidacy of Bode George under any arrangement. According to a zonal executive committee member of the faction from Ogun State, Kashamu strongly believes that George is one of the biggest problems of PDP in the Southwest.
“That is one other problem the unity convention will face. Any reconciliation that gives Bode George a chance to become national chairman will be rejected by Senator Kashamu who is the leader of the party in the Southwest. This is largely because he sees George as one of the biggest problems of PDP in the Southwest,” a source said.
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PDP won’t hold any convention under Sheriff – Adeyeye
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Caretaker Committee has said the party would not hold any national convention under the leadership of Ali Modu Sheriff
The Publicity Secretary of the Committee, Dayo Adeyeye, told journalists on Thursday in Abuja that the party could not trust Sheriff with its leadership.
He added that given the “lawless and untoward behaviour of Sheriff so far,” it appeared that there would be no meeting point in resolving the party crisis.
Adeyeye, who described Sheriff –led National Working Committee (NWC) as illegal, urged him to immediately stop operating on behalf of the party.
He also urged Sheriff to stop parading himself as Acting National Chairman of PDP following the judgment of an Abuja High Court delivered by Justice Valentine Ashi on June 29, 2016.
The court judgement, according to Adeyeye nullified the 2014 Amendment to the PDP Constitution that produced Sheriff as Acting National Chairman of the PDP and that the judgement was never appealed.
Adeyeye added that there was another valid judgment delivered on Augut 17, 2016 by Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya of the FCT High Court in Abuja which reaffirmed Sheriff’s sack as PDP Chairman.
NAN