Five PDP Governors Join Ali Modu Sheriff’s Camp

Factional head of the People’s Democratic
Party, Ali Modu Sheriff has added some
strong feathers to his wings, politically,
with a recent development.

Ali Modu Sheriff
At least five of the 11 governors in the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are openly
engaged with the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff
leadership of the party, Vanguard has
learnt.
The gains by the Sheriff tendency in the
party came as Governor Seriake Dickson of
Bayelsa State asked factional chairman,
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, to step down his
claim upon the reality of the Court of
Appeal judgment upholding Sheriff as
national chairman.
Meanwhile, National Chairman of the
party, Ali Modu Sheriff, has applied to the
Supreme Court seeking to stop Senator
Ahmed Makarfi from using the name of the
party to challenge the ruling of the Court of
Appeal in Port Harcourt which affirmed
him as the authentic chairman of the party.
Besides Governor Dickson, who is the
chairman of the party’s Peace and
Reconciliation Committee, Governor Dave
Umuahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Ben
Ayade and the party’s two Northern
governors were also said to have tilted
support towards Senator Sheriff.
Governor Umahi was said to have
technically given recognition to Sheriff
after he got the later to endorse the party’s
candidates for the forthcoming local
government elections in Ebonyi State.
Besides a statement from Cross River State
chapter of the party endorsing Sheriff,
Governor Ayade has also openly appeared
with Sheriff in public engagements.
Meanwhile, Governor Dickson who asked
party leaders to accept the Court of Appeal
judgment vesting leadership on Sheriff, in
an interview in Abuja, said the crisis
rocking the party was fuelled by the selfish
desire to control the party ahead of the
2019 elections. He warned that the interest
of the party should be placed above selfish
ambitions.
The governor, who has been attacked by
the Makarfi faction for turning the report
of his committee to Sheriff, pointed out that
it would have been wrong for his party to
have done otherwise given the legal status
vested on Sheriff by the Court of Appeal
judgment.
Dickson pointed out that though he was not
a supporter of Sheriff, he said he was
compelled by the rule of law to accept him
as the national chairman based on the
court order and in the overall interest of
the PDP.
The governor said it was appalling for
many leaders in the party, who claimed to
be democrats to treat the court verdict
recognising Sheriff as the national
chairman of the PDP with disdain, pointing
out that such disposition would lead to the
collapse of the party, if not checked.
Sheriff moves to stop Makarfi from
challenging PH ruling
In a motion for discontinuance filed by
Senator Sheriff and Professor Wale
Oladipo, secretary of the party, the duo
argued that Makarfi lacked the legal
ground for such appeal.
He has, therefore, applied to the apex court
for the withdrawal of an appeal filed in the
name of the party by the Ahmed Makarfi-
led faction.
Senator Makarfi had in an appeal with
number SC.133/2017 filed on February 27,
2017, challenged the February 17, 2017
judgment of the Port Harcourt Division of
the Court of Appeal which restored Sheriff-
led executive as the authentic leadership of
the party.
Sheriff’s motion of discontinuance, which
was filed through their lead counsel, Chief
Akinlolu Olujinmi (SAN), noted that by
virtue of the Court of Appeal’s judgment,
Makarfi and other members of his faction
were not the alter ego of the party and as
such, were incompetent to institute any
legal process in the name of the party.
Alabatvnews.