Ali Modu Sheriff Takes Over PDP Affairs

The leadership crisis of Peoples Democratic Party is far from over as its former acting National Chairman, Ali-Modu Sheriff on Monday stormed the party’s secretariat with his supporters to assume the leadership of the party.

This comes a week after the party’s Board of Trustees handed over the affairs of the PDP to the Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, following the ouster of Ali-Modu Sheriff during the party’s national convention in Port Harcourt.

After several hours of battle with security men, former chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Ali Modu Sheriff, finally gained entry into the PDP headquarters in Abuja.

He told reporters that he remains the sole chairman of the party till 2018.

“I remain the authentic chairman (of the PDP) unless the laws of our land – if the courts make a pronouncement and say that Ali-Modu Sheriff is not the chairman, I will obey as I have always obeyed.

“But as of today, till year 2018, I am the National Chairman of the PDP,” he said.

Mr Sheriff had led his group to storm the Wadata Plaza national secretariat of the PDP but was initially prevented from going in by armed policemen.

Speaking with journalists outside the party’s headquarters, Sheriff said that the court does not recognise the constitution of a caretaker committee.

Senator Sheriff, who was at the secretariat with the party’s national secretary and national treasure, said: “As you may be aware, that we have been facing some challenges since we put off the national convention in Port Harcourt last month.

“We, therefore, consider it the height of self-deceit for anyone to pretend that the PDP is not in crisis.

“But I want to assure you that we have been working round the clock to see how we can resolve the matter without being on the wrong side of the law.

“All the judgments that are available today recognise us as the sole chairman of this party.

“We have a court order in our hand to allow us to go into our office but the inspector general of police, after having a truce with him that nobody should be allowed until we have decided, he decided to take the law into his hands and allow the wrong people,” he told a gathering of supporters at the secretariat.

Mr Ali Modu Sheriff removed at a convention held in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria on May 21, with a caretaker committee set up to co-ordinate the affairs of the party.

The Caretaker Committee headed by a former Governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, was mandated to elect a new National Working Committee for the party within three months.

After his removal, the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr Ayodele Fayose, said that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP, which Senator Sheriff led, was dissolved to save the party.

The opposition party is struggling to regain popularity after it lost power to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 presidential election.