PDP BoT leadership illegal, Makarfi must go – Sheriff

The crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party assumed another dimension on Tuesday as the factional National Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, rejected the leadership of its Board of Trustees.

Sheriff also said that the solutions proferred by the BoT for the resolution of the crisis in the party fell short of the agreement he said his faction had with the peace panel set up by the BoT.

The former governor of Borno State stated this in a statement in which he said that the outcome of the meeting held by the Board in Abuja on Monday, was not in tandem with the decision he claimed was reached with the Dickson/Mantu reconciliation committee.

Sheriff, who stated this in a statement signed by his deputy, Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh, however, agreed with the BoT that the next national convention must hold in Abuja.

The factional national chairman of the main opposition party was reacting to the decisions reached by the BoT at its meeting in Abuja on Monday, where it said that a new national convention committee be put in place to organise the proposed national convention.

He specifically accused the Chairman of the BoT, Senator Walid Jibrin, of perpetuating himself in office.

The statement said, “That the BoT Chairman, Senator Walid Jibrin chairmanship has brought crisis to the party.

“In any case his tenure has expired as he has spent more than 10 years as the Secretary and Chairman BoT which runs contrary to the constitution (of the party).”

He said there were other qualified members of the party in the board, who he said, were ready to lead it.

He said that the agreement his faction had with the peace panel was that the Chairman of the National Caretaker Committee of the party should resign from office.

Apart from this, he also said that it was agreed that Sheriff would preside over the party’s National Executive Committee meeting where he said,  a new national convention committee would be named.

Ojuogboh said that it was wrong for the BoT to pass a vote of confidence on the Makarfi-led caretaker committee, which he said had failed twice to organise an acceptable national convention.

He, therefore, called on Makarfi to resign his appointment.

He said, “Consequently, we can now confidently inform the general public that well-meaning Nigerians have been urging Senator Makarfi to resign to save democracy.”

When contacted, Jibrin said he was not going to react now, saying he would do so “after reading the report.”

The spokesperson for the national caretaker committee, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, was also said not to be in the country.

When our correspondent visited the temporary national secretariat of the party at Wuse Zone 2, no member of the caretaker committee was around to speak on the issue.

Punch