As the supremacy battle in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lingers on, the Senator Ahmed Markarfi-led faction has come out with strong words, denouncing Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the chairman of the party, and threatening him with jail time.

In a statement, yesterday, the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Dayo Adeyeye, said the continuous claim by Sheriff that he remains the chairman of the party was a continuation of plans to sustain mayhem in the party, which was evident in the elections in Edo and Ondo states.

According to the full statement: “Our attention has been drawn to another set of garbage and tissues of lies put together by the discredited loyalists of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff in the name of a press statement on Monday, November 28, 2016, wherein, the group tried to sustain it’s illegal claim to the leadership of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

“The National Caretaker Committee, which has been confirmed severally by the court as the authentic body saddled with the task of providing leadership for the party pending the hosting of an elective National Convention, would have ignored the ranting of these men of dishonour but leaving them to continue deceiving Nigerians at this time would not be in the interest of democracy.

“First and foremost, we wish to state categorically that in consonance with judgment of various courts, which Ali Modu Sheriff and his team of confused travellers have not bothered to appeal, the former Borno State governor is not the chairman of our party, the PDP. His consistent claim to the office is a continuation of their plans to sustain mayhem in our party, but nature and fair justice have taken care of his desperation.

“We wish to draw the attention of all Nigerians to the judgment delivered by Justice Valentine Ashi of FCT High Court in Apo, Abuja on June 29, 2016, which states clearly that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was never and is not the PDP national chairman; and equally, this judgment was upheld by the ruling of Justice Nwamaka Ogbonnaya also of the FCT High Court in Kubwa, Abuja on August 17, 2016.

“It is instructive to note that Senator Modu Sheriff and his team of circus performers have not deemed it fit to appeal the court judgments. It is tripartite in law that a judgment not appeal is binding on the defendant. The courts have spoken, and their pronouncements are binding. However, those who wish to spend the rest of their lives behind prison bars may continue to utter heresy against the court.

“We hope their children would be proud to bear the family names of convicts. It is also morally wrong to accuse the National Caretaker Committee of being the reason why the party is facing challenges in terms of unfavourable election results especially in Edo and Ondo states. Everyone knows the real enemies of the PDP. We won’t also forget in a hurry the ignoble role Barrister Jimoh Ibrahim played in scuttling our campaign for the Ondo election.

“We also know those who pushed him forward for the hatchet job. We are amused that the agents of darkness used by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to cause confusion and frustrate our campaign for the Ondo election, can accuse the National Caretaker Committee of impunity. However, we simply want them to define what impunity is, using their acts of betrayal as a case study.

“What they are doing is the worst form of impunity, lawlessness, greed and avarice. Their call on the National Caretaker Committee to self disband is uncharitable and unconstitutional. If they have any shame, they are the ones that should quietly disband. But honours can’t be expected from impostors. No matter what they say, we are determined as a political party to forge ahead and put our house in order even without their inputs.

“The National Caretaker Committee has not called for their expulsion against the claims they are making, the time for that has not come. But the rain of vengeance will not hang forever in the clouds.