BEVERLY HILLS, April 06, (THEWILL) – The leadership crisis in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have worsened as Court-backed National Chairman of the party, Ali Modu Sheriff, stormed out of a peace meeting convened by former President Goodluck Jonathan as the meeting ended in disarray.
Sheriff came into the Yar ‘Adua Centre, Abuja, where the meeting held on Thursday, long after Jonathan, the governors and other party chiefs had taken their seats which caused a little stir as the sitting arrangement had to be hurriedly adjusted in order to find him a place close to the former President.
THEWILL gathered that the disagreement at the meeting started when Sheriff declared that as the most senior member of the PDP, such a meeting of that nature ought to have been convened by him which was further fuelled by Jonathan’s refusal to allow him address the meeting in his capacity as the National Chairman.
Sheriff also insisted that Makarfi, who was billed to speak based on the programme of events, would not speak since his committee had been sacked by the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division.
His proposal was rejected by the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, who allegedly insisted that Makarfi should also be allowed to speak if Sheriff would speak leading to a ferocious face-off to the extent that Sheriff and Wike had to stand up to each other while Sheriff stormed out moments later.
Speaking with reporters shortly after he walked out with his team, Sheriff said he would not be party to any arrangement that seemed to deviate from the recommendation of the Dickson committee insisting that the meeting was at variance with the recommendations made by the committee.
“We were here for PDP stakeholders meeting and the PDP has only one National Chairman, which is Ali Modu-Sheriff. There is no PDP meeting that will take place under whatever arrangement that I will not open the session as National Chairman. Today, I am the most senior member of this party,” he stated.
“I think Governor Dickson made a proposal for reconciliation. And we have accepted. Some people want to deviate from this programme, to bring agenda which was not part of it.
“And as national chairman of the party, what I told you people in my office when Dickson brought the report is the only thing that we have agreed at this moment. And I will not be party for anybody using me to do another programme. I’m not going to be part of it.
“Well, I respect Jonathan for the meeting. He is a former president. But as of today, I am the most senior member of the party. Therefore, if I respect him, the respect must be reciprocated.
“You can’t call me for a meeting of PDP and say I cannot address the meeting as national chairman of the party.
“As the National Chairman, we move on. We have a programme initiated by Dickson. And we are continuing with that. Anything outside that, I am not a party to it.”
Jonathan also spoke with journalists after the exit of Sheriff and his team and described what happened as unfortunate but said the meeting would go ahead with the hope of ending the crisis in the party.
He announced that he would set up of a 40-member committee, which he said he would head but revealed that in his absence, either his former Deputy, Namadi Sambo, or Mark would stand in for him to lead the meeting.
At the meeting, which was chaired by Jonathan, were some of the party’s governors, Ayo Fayose (Ekiti), Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Darius Ishaku (Taraba) while the Deputy Governors of Gombe and Ebonyi states were also there.
Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu; a former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark; the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Walid Jibrin; Chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Makarfi; some PDP chieftains such as Prince Uche Secondus, Olisa Metuh, among others were also in attendance.
Curiously, the Chairman of the party’s reconciliation committee and Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, was among the party’s governors who did not attend the meeting and were not represented by their deputies.
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