“I remain the authentic national chairman of PDP until 2018” – Ali Modu Sheriff
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff purportedly removed as National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the party’s convention in Port Harcourt recently, on Monday said he remained the party’s chairman.
He told newsmen at the party’s national
secretariat in Abuja that he would remain in that position until 2018
except he was removed by the court.
Sheriff, who was said to have just
returned from a foreign trip, was on Monday denied access into the
party’s secretariat by policemen.
He said that he had watched events as
they unfolded after the Port Harcourt convention, which he recalled that
he suspended in obedience to a court order.
According to him, the court ordered that
nobody should be elected into the offices of National Chairman,
Secretary and Auditor at the convention.
Sheriff described the Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee constituted at the convention as “omnibus body” saying that it was not in PDP’s Constitution.
“I remain the authentic national
chairman of PDP until 2018 unless the court of our land said I should
cease to be, which I will obey. But, as of today till 2018, I, Ali Modu
Sheriff, is the National Chairman of PDP,” he said.
He said that if Makarfi was interested in becoming the party’s chairman, he should wait for a national convention and contest.
“Ali Modu Sheriff did not want to be chairman; they begged me to be. All of them came to beg me,” he said.
Sheriff disclosed that when policemen
stopped him from entering the party’s secretariat in the morning, he
went to the Inspector-General of Police, who ordered his men to allow
him in.
“Now that the police have handed over
the security of the secretariat to the party, I will be coming everyday
as the authentic chairman of the party,” he said.
He announced that Senator Hope Uzordima was Chairman, Screening Committee for the party’s primaries for the September 10 governorship election in Edo.
“We have also asked interested
candidates to come and buy their forms for the primaries from
Tuesday. We are not selling the form for N16 million that people are
talking about. We are selling it for N10 million,” Sheriff said.
On the fate of the National Working
Committee (NWC) members who handed over to Makarfi, he said that a
letter would be written to their deputies to take over if they failed to
resume on Tuesday.
“All the deputies are waiting; any NWC member that refuses to resume tomorrow, his deputy will take over.”
Sheriff, who claimed that he was working
with every organ of the party, said that he was ready to work with
every party member, including Makarfi and his committee members.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Sheriff was in company with National Secretary of the party, Professor Adewale Oladipo, and a former political aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak.
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