MAKARFI, SHERIFF EXPOSE SECRET BEHIND FACE-OFF
PDP will collapse if Sheriff prevails We have 99.9% support against him
Sheriff Wants to be 2019 PDP Presidential Candidate - Makarfi
The embattled chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the party, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, are currently in a leadership tussle. In separate exclusive interviews with Daily Trust on Sunday, both leaders insist on the legitimacy of their control of the party and how they hope to end the present crisis.
The chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, said the party could collapse if Senator Ali Modu Sheriff prevailed as chairman of the party. He said one of the reasons Sheriff was removed was his ambition to contest the 2019 presidency. Sheriff on his part blames the South-West for the crisis. He also maintained that the Makarfi Caretaker Committee was illegal as the concept was alien to the PDP constitution.
I’m a Victim of Fayose, Kashamu Power Play – Sheriff
“The quick end to the crisis depends on the first week of July, when we expect a major decision on whether the convention and the decisions therein were valid. If the convention was valid, fine; there is nothing anybody can do except you want to really destroy the party. But if it was not valid, what becomes of the PDP because 99.9 per cent of the party is not willing to accept Sheriff. This means that he would be left with less than 1 per cent of the people in the name of the PDP. And 99.9 per cent would have to look for an alternative,’’ Makarfi said.
Senator Ali Modu Sheriff on his part said, “There is nothing like caretaker in the constitution of the party. I am not desperate to be the chairman of our party, but I will not go against the law. I don’t have any personal problem with Makarfi. The Almighty Allah has given me accomplishments in life. Makarfi is not my problem in anyway and will never be my problem. This is about what is right and what is wrong.’’
The former Kaduna State governor, Senator Ahmed Muhammed Makarfi, is presently the chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview he explained the reasons behind the current leadership crisis in the party and why the embattled chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, should throw in the towel.
What informed the earlier decision of the leaders of the PDP to appoint Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as chairman of the party?
Well, to be honest I was not part of the process; 99.9 per cent of our party men and women were not part of the process. Until this matter surfaced before the Board of Trustees (BoT), people were not aware of this. But we understand that our governors, in good faith, had discussed something to do with this at the national caucus. Of course there were very sharp divisions, but the matter still found its way to the BoT. Unanimously, the BoT was not comfortable, and they gave their reasons. It also raised a similar furore at the National Executive Council (NEC). But I was not there when the final decision was taken at the NEC and he got through. It was really an appointment because national officers of the party can only be elected at a national convention. However, the NEC can take interim decisions subject to ratification by a convention; hence he got that position.
That was not the end of the story because it did not go down well with party leaders and followers. Other series of meetings took place and truce was brokered, where it was agreed by consensus that all the national officers, including him, would serve for a maximum of three months and conduct a convention where new officers would be elected. So that was the process of accommodation. Give and take, that was arrived at, which saw to the seeming settlement of the matter, which will allow us to have a national convention to elect new officers.
Why is it that suddenly, even those leaders of the party who supported his emergence are now asking him to go?
It is as a result of his actions since he took over as chairman. First of all, as I told you earlier, finally, peace was made in the party when it was all agreed that he and other national officers would serve for not more than three months. But after that, sycophancy started to creep in and they wanted to stay in office beyond three months. They wanted to succeed themselves.
We held congresses at ward, local government and state levels. And for each position, only one
Again, I was not part of it, but we were made to understand that he was conducting himself not only as chairman for four years but also as the presidential candidate of the party for 2019. Some of the governors alleged that he offered them the position of running mate
form was made available. So if you had 10 aspirants, only one person could buy the form. So, right from the beginning there were so many deficiencies. As a result of this, local chapters of the party devised certain means and set the forms aside. We said, okay queue behind the person you wanted and the person who got the highest votes would be given the form. To work by giving out a single form would basically mean appointing one person. Of course, in some states that did not happen. That is why there were about seven states where conventions did not take place. They were not able to device this democratic means to abridge the well calculated intention of actually manipulating the entire process.
Again, I was not part of it, but we were made to understand that he was conducting himself not only as chairman for four years but also as the presidential candidate of the party for 2019. Some of the governors alleged that he offered them the position of running mate. It appeared that he was promising the same thing to several people and they found out.
To be honest, I never had any personal problem with him because I don’t have any personal interest. I am just a party man. Anybody who cared to ask him was promised heaven and earth. That was really what made the bubble to burst. People were no longer comfortable with him. If he had played his card very well, I believe he would have perhaps been smoothly elected as chairman. But then, remember that there was a court order that we should not hold a convention. We were also made to understand that the
governors confronted him on this court order that came from Lagos and he dissociated himself from it. But even before the convention, he wrote back to his solicitors to continue to represent him in court.
It is ridiculous when people are talking to you and agreeing with you politically and you are going to court behind them to secure an order, just to have it your way irrespective of their feelings. So a combination of all these issues created distrust in people’s minds.
You accused him of working for external forces against the party; do you have any proof?
Well, he equally accused me. First of all, he said I was working to be president. He also said I was working for someone else to be the party’s presidential candidate. Now, take it logically, if I am qualified and have the interest to be president, why should I work for someone else? That is a contradiction. Now, it is your action that can make you suspicious. As I speak to you, more than 30 delegations have reached out to Sheriff, asking him to give peace a chance, but he refused. When he was made chairman against the will of 99.9 per cent of the people, they were prevailed upon to give peace a chance. They gave peace a chance and accepted him. So, if people suspended their personal interests and gave peace a chance, why are you not reciprocating the same gesture? Do you know what people would do for you tomorrow?
Look at what he is doing in Edo. Everybody, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) covered the governorship primary election, but you are still going ahead to say you want to do something. What is the intention? Not only that, have you heard the Caretaker Committee say it is taking or thinking of taking punitive measures against anybody because the person is with Sheriff? But he has said so by even alleging that he had suspended a whole state executive while he has no power to suspend any individual. If you mean well for the party, would you take such actions? So, his actions have opened him to all kinds of accusations.
What led to your emergence as the chairman of the Caretaker Committee?
I was actually not ready to go to Port Harcourt since I knew that election would not take place. But some friends said I should show my face and see other friends since it was only one day. So I agreed and went. I arrived Port Harcourt late, such that I did not have time to book for a hotel. I said that when I get there I would find a place to stay. In Port Harcourt, a friend sent a car to pick me up. My bag was still at the back of the car when they called me, saying that there was a meeting at the Government House. I was asked to come, and from there we would go to the convention venue. I went there while the meeting was going on. It was only when I walked in that people started approaching me, saying, ‘Please we want to put you forward to bring some sense of peace and unity to our party.’ I asked for reasons, but the chairman said it was not necessary. It was the unanimous view of governors, members of the BoT, members of the National Assembly and other members there.
Of course Sheriff was not at that meeting because he was being discussed. He was downstairs. I said if it was a consensus, fine, but if it was a contest, I was not prepared because I was not seeking anything. That was how I became chairman. Other members of the committee also emerged. Some members of the committee were not even in Port Harcourt when they were picked.
As the caretaker chairman of the party, what is the way forward?
We still have the plans to conduct a national convention within three months of our appointment, other matters can wait. When the national officers are elected they can look into other matters. We are not a committee to witch-hunt, we are not a committee to punish, we are a committee to transit to an acceptable leadership that can look into all issues affecting the party and move it forward. This is our main agenda.
Is there any likelihood that you would contest to remain in office as a substantive chairman of the party?
Not at all.
How convenient is it for you to operate outside the national headquarters of the party?
As you can see, we are operating straight from home. We deal with staff matters here, including salaries, welfare and what have you. We are in charge of the bureaucracy of the party. So nothing has stopped. The only difference is that we are not operating from Wadata. But it was a consensus to leave Wadata until we make political peace, or until Port Harcourt delivers their judgement. These are the two things to determine who moves into Wadata; and Port Harcourt judgement is next week. Let’s wait and see what the court would say.
Some observers are already linking these issues to 2019, what is your take?
They will be right to link the issues to 2019. As I said earlier, it was known to the majority of the people that the former chairman, Modu Sheriff, assumed he was already the presidential candidate of the PDP and offering the position of running mate to different governors.
We want to be allowed to finish this job within three months and go. So where is the hidden agenda here? Nobody has heard us campaign for any individual to succeed us. There is absolutely no hidden agenda for the Caretaker Committee. We want people to elect their national officers freely.
What would you do if the Caretaker Committee is scrapped following the ongoing moves?
We did not seek for it, so if they want us to go now, we will go.
What are the leaders of the party currently doing to bring peace?
All I know is that they have been making efforts to make peace. They have been trying to make Sheriff see reasons why there should be peace. And whatever they come out with in the spirit of peace, even if it means that we vacate our positions, we will do so.
Do you see external hands in all of these?
You can’t rule out external forces. But I have to be honest and sincere; I have not seen the evidence of government as an entity. Maybe some individuals from the party in power are interfering, purely for local interests. We have seen traces of that.
Do you see a quick end to this crisis?
The quick end to the crisis depends on the first week of July when we expect a major decision on whether the convention and the decisions therein were valid. If the convention was valid, fine; there is nothing anybody can do except you want to really destroy the party. But if it was not valid, what becomes of the PDP because 99.9 per cent of the party is not willing to accept Sheriff. This means that he would be left with less than 1 per cent of the people in the name of the PDP. And 99.9 per cent would have to look for an alternative.
Based on all these issues, do you think the party can still unite in time to put up a good performance during the 2019 general elections?
With 99.9 per cent of the people, we are one, we are solid. What is there to unite - 0.01 per cent that we are willing to reunite and reabsorb?
There are speculations that you are also interested in the 2019 presidential poll?
I am not planning towards anything. I went to Port Harcourt purely to observe and my party thought it wise to give me a leadership role for three months. I did not look for it. They sought for me because my party believed that I and other people could do the job for this short period of time. And we accepted it because we are loyal party men and women. So I don’t see why I should be struggling for power. You need to struggle to get education, you need to struggle to get to a certain level of life, thereafter, in all honesty, I think people should work on their political ambition so that it doesn’t really take them to their grave. In any way you are called upon to serve, if it is what you can do, go ahead and do it. But I don’t have such plans. I remain a party man and I will continue to be a party man.
Is the PDP making moves to win over the embattled leaders of the National Assembly?
If we are doing that I won’t tell you or anybody. The All Progressives Congress (APC) won’t tell you what they are planning or how they are going about recruiting people. The APC will be right in attempting to recruit even people like me. And I will be right to attempt to recruit anybody. It is politics. I mean that these things will be going on both sides; at the end of the day we will see what happens.
But if it was not valid, what becomes of the PDP because 99.9 per cent of the party is not willing to accept Sheriff. This means that he would be left with less than 1 per cent of the people in the name of the PDP. And 99.9 per cent would have to look for an alternative
How do you see your chances in Edo?
If Modu Sheriff can allow peace to reign, we have brilliant chances. That is why people are accusing him of probably working to make sure that we lose Edo. If not, he should allow Edo to be. That state came out solid, so why the interference?