At last, a Federal High
Court in Port Harcourt on July 4, 2016 has finally barred the factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff from office. The court’s judgement put a final seal to the coffin of Sheriff’s chairmanship, keeping him away from the secretariat of the party in Abuja. By the judgement, it is now clear that whatever agenda Sheriff had for or against the PDP is dead and buried.
A member of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party in an interview with newsmen before the judgement, said: “we know he has an agenda. He wants to kill the PDP and return to where he is coming from but that would not happen. He has been parading himself all over the place like a masquerade. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do to him now. Let us wait for the July 4 judgement. After that day, then, we will know who the chairman of the party is.”
Justice A. Liman of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt had on May 24, ordered Sheriff and members of his National Working Committee (NWC) to stop parading themselves as officers of the party. That decision gave legal teeth to the May 21 Port Harcourt National Convention that produced the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee of the PDP.
Justice Ibrahim Buba at the Federal High Court in Lagos had affirmed Sheriff and his faction as the national officers of the party.
The constitution of the party as provided in Section 43 stipulates that such powers are conferred on anybody by the National Convention of the party as held in Port Harcourt on May 21, 2016. On that day, the power was transferred to the Makarfi Committee through the convention. It was from that day that Sheriff ceased to be the national chairman of the party by law. The INEC officials were on hand to observe the convention.
Addressing the conven-tion which was attended by PDP members from the 36 States of the Federation including Abuja, former and sitting governors, senators and House of Representatives members, members of State Houses Assembly, BOT of the party and supporters, Rivers State Governor, Chief Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike who was chairman, National Planning Committee, said the event had showcased PDP as the largest and a united party in Nigeria and Africa at large.
He assured that the convention would be successful and that the PDP was working not only in Rivers State but also in Nigeria as a whole. Wike also assured the business community and investors that Rivers State was peaceful and well secure contrary to sponsored reports.
Also addressing the convention, the former Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, who declared it open, said the time had come for PDP members to come together and eschew all wrangling, knowing that the party was for the people.
According to him, only PDP can save the country from the difficult situation it is passing through, saying that the APC had failed. “There is general hunger and the populace is yearning for PDP to come to their rescue. We must make sacrifice since we cannot do anything outside the convention as the control switch of the party. We must make sure that PDP succeeds and remains together because the world is looking towards PDP to move the country forward.”
Speaking in an interview with The Tide, Secondus described the so-called division or crisis in the party as a mere distraction and not a crisis as being speculated, pointing out that there was no crisis in the party as what was happening so far was a mere distraction from a handful of members who were being used to create the scene that looked like a crisis. The party, he said, was intact and united even more than ever before, adding that the party was not in any crisis as all the members of the working committee, Board of Trustees and National Assembly members were intact and in support of the decisions reached at the party’s convention in Port Harcourt.
“The convention of any party is the highest decision-making body of the party and all party men are supposed to abide by it,” he said and advised Sheriff to read the party’s constitution and stop behaving the way he was going about things, if he was not being used by the ruling party to divide or weaken the opposition in the country.
In his speech, the BOT chairman, W. Jubril affirmed the board’s commitment to ensuring the oneness of the party and urged all members to remain resolute, cooperative and keep to the party’s constitution. He noted that the convention came at the right time when some members of the party were aggrieved and assured that they will all come together and return to the party.
“The party will come back to power in 2019. All problems will be addressed in line with our constitution,” he assured, calling on members to remain calm and supportive to the party and not to do anything that will create division and a different agenda.
Also speaking, Senate Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu said, “today is a history of unity despite the opposition. We are reminding the world and Nigeria that we handed everything to APC. We stand for unity and by this time next year, we will be preparing to take over the government in 2019.”
Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimikko and PDP governors’ Forum chairman, in his remarks said, “We stand in absolute solidarity and will do everything possible to protect and make the party sand. Nigerians are clamouring for better governance. We were all prudent because we believed in the rule of law and democracy in all the 16 years of PDP and we got it perfectly well despite the criticisms. Ours was better than what people are seeing now.”
According to Mimikko, “there was prosperity in PDP’s rule and the party will do more than what it did, knowing that it owes the people the duty to provide good governors to rule the states. PDP governors are the best in Nigeria today. We should remain united.”
Former Senate President David Mark expressed optimism that the PDP would in 2019 elections sweep the pools, calling on members to untie and work together to achieve the goal. Chanting the slogan ‘change the change.’ Mark said “the people to change the change is PDP.”
At the convention, a resolution was passed to zone the presidency to the North in 2019 while a caretaker committee headed by Ahmed Makarfi was constituted and mandated to conduct an election within 90 days from the date of the convention, as well as reconcile all aggrieved persons and harmonise issues.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the end may be in sight for the lingering crisis in the leadership of the party as factional leaders, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed Makarfi, have commenced negotiations on how to engender peace. Disclosing this at a press conference in Abuja recently, the immediate past National Vice Chairman of PDP for South-South, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, said the Sheriff Camp had made its terms for truce known to the Makarfi group through an ‘intermediary.’
But Ojougboh insisted that any negotiation for peace must always consider that Sheriff remained the authentic chairman until a properly constituted convention of the party said otherwise. He declined to give other conditions outlined for peace to reign in the party.

Shedie Okpara