PDP crisis may continue till 2019: Ali Modu Sheriff

Factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has warned that the crisis rocking the party may prolong till 2019.

He said there were signs that the courts might not be able to restore sanity to the former ruling party.

He, therefore, called on state governors, leaders in the party and other stakeholders to find political solutions to end the protracted crisis in the party.

The former governor of Borno State spoke at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.

He was represented at the briefing by his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojugboh, who said the reprieve granted his faction by Justice Okon Abang, that it must be the one to present candidates for the Edo and Ondo states' elections coming up later in the year was proof that Sheriff was the authentic leader of the party.

Ojugboh said, “There's no faction in the party. Stop calling Sheriff factional chairman. The National Working Committee is one. The reason is that, the court said that it is only Sheriff that can sign and submit names of candidates for Edo and Ondo states' elections.

“We are now appealing to the leaders of the party and its governors to cooperate with Sheriff so that he can organise a proper convention to return power to the people.

“The court cases won't end until 2019. The court may therefore not be able to solve the crisis. So we need political solution to end the crisis.

“Justice Abang has said there's no room for caretaker in the party constitution. This is a special appeal to the governors, (and) the leaders to look at the situation passionately and solve the matter.

“The only way through which the party can solve the problem and for it to move forward is for the people to sit together and solve the problems.”

He said that while Sheriff was ready to make peace, he nevertheless added that the party must respect the rule of law.

“Court can't solve the problems of the party,” Ojugboh said.

“The earlier they behave well, the better for them. The party won't rely on the governors for funds and all that anymore. We don't need their money. The corruption issue we are having is because governors were bringing money to run party.

“We don't need the governors' money to run the party again.”

Meanwhile, the National Caretaker Committee of the party, which is headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, has said that the injunction granted to the Sheriff group was in error.

The spokesperson for the caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, stated this while reacting to the claim by Sheriff in Abuja.

He said the reprieve was granted in error and that it had no effect.

He said, “The injunction granted to the Sheriff group by Justice Abang is of no effect. We believe it was granted in error by misrepresentation to his lordship.

“Two judgements given this week by two justices of the FCT High Court and Federal High Court are to the effect that Sheriff was never even a chairman of the PDP.

“He was described as a busy body in one of the judgements. How can the court then grant an injunction to a busy body that has no locus in the party?

“Cairo Ojugboh is trying to hold on to the last straw for relevance. He was part of the stakeholders group in Abuja who were vehemently opposed to Sheriff.

“Now he claims to be his ardent supporter. Where lays his credibility? These people will keep on shopping for all manner of court orders. But they will fail in the end.”

Source; The Punch