South-West is the cause of PDP crisis – Sheriff I was begged to be chairman Makarfi committee illegal My tenure runs until 2018
Former Borno State governor, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, was appointed chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party in February. Things have since fallen apart between Sheriff and PDP governors who we
What is your position on the recent court judgement that purportedly removed you as chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?
I was surprised because my name was not mentioned anywhere in that judgement. It has absolutely nothing to do with my office. It is only an amendment to the constitution of the 2014 convention. An article was amended, and they said it should be expunged because it was not correct. Either way, it doesn’t affect me at all.
You can’t take it away that Adamu Mu’azu was elected at a convention in 2014. The article says the new chairman from the zone should serve out the time of the former chairman. Initially, the new chairman would remain until a convention is held. Either way, I was elected by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party. In that NEC, there were four people who contested; therefore, that pronouncement has nothing to do with me.
I wonder why somebody would generate false stories and publish in respected media houses in this country without supporting documents. I say this because up till this time that I am talking to you, that judgement has not even been signed by the judge who delivered it. Once it is signed I will publish it in the newspapers.
How come various courts are delivering conflicting judgements in this matter?
In all the judgements, the High Court in Port Harcourt was only an exparte motion which validity lasted only for 14 days. It had lapsed before I even went to office. I didn’t go back to my office until the order lapsed because I don’t drag laws. I obey court orders, no matter how small the court is. That order stated that I should not parade myself as chairman, and I obeyed.
The only valid order remaining now is the interlocutory injunction issued by a court in Lagos, which states that my tenure is valid until 2018 and no election should be conducted for any of the offices. So technically speaking, there is nowhere that says Ali Sheriff should not be chairman.
How did you emerge as chairman of the PDP?
The thing is that Mu’azu resigned as national chairman of the party and they were looking for a replacement. The constitution of the party states that once a chairman resigns, the zone he comes from should produce another chairman. That didn’t happen until some people from the North-East went to the court. Ahmed Ali Gulak went to court and got a judgement which forced the party to get a new chairman in accordance with the constitution of the party. As a result of this, five states from the North-East - Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe and Taraba nominated candidates. When the five names of the nominees were sent to the caucus of the party, they were not comfortable with those nominated to lead them, so they called for more names. At this point, I and some other people were contacted; and I said no.
You were not interested?
I was not interested at all. I said no. When they insisted, I said there was a moral issue because I nominated Mohammed Abba Gana to be the national chairman of the party. But they prevailed on me, saying they would talk to those who were contesting. They begged me to take the position. After about three days I accepted because I saw the need to make sacrifice on behalf of the party. We believe in the principles and ideals of the party. That was how I emerged as the national chairman of the party.
Also, although I have a long tenure left, I want to submit myself for election because I want the people to vote again so as to bring confidence back to the party. We begged some of the officers whose tenure had not ended to forgo their tenure. Some accepted while some refused. That was where we had the problem. They went to court and got a judgement in Abuja, that the tenure of certain officers would not end until 2018; hence no election should be conducted.
The national secretary of the party, the legal adviser and the former national chairman were all elected on the same day. The national secretary and the national auditor went to a court in Lagos to obtain an order that their tenure did not end because they did not want to go. When they went to the court, they also added the office of the chairman because the election they had was done the same day. When I became aware, I said they should remove my name because I wanted to go for an election. We went to the court to remove my office but the court refused, saying the status quo should remain until the matter is settled. If anybody has contrary views he should go to the court. So there was no other office to fill.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also sent me a letter, saying they would not monitor the election until offices of the chairman, the secretary and legal adviser became vacant. And there was a court order restraining them because the offices were not vacant. So I called off the Port Harcourt convention. I called a press conference and said the court could send me to jail if I disobeyed a valid order since I don’t have immunity. We went to Port Harcourt, thinking that the order would be set aside that Friday. But we got a report that the judge in Lagos refused while we were in Port Harcourt. Some people said you called off the
convention because you had issues with governors of the party?
No, that was absolutely wrong. The thing is that we had an agreement with the governors and everybody that we could get the judgement set aside before the convention. So we all moved to Port Harcourt because the judgement was to come up in Lagos on Friday. But by 5pm we got a report that the judge refused, saying we shouldn’t do anything.
What is the problem between you and the PDP governors?
There was really no problem. They said the convention must hold since they had prepared for it. So, if there was any bone of contention, it was the convention.
What is the truth in the reports that they lost confidence in you because you were already nursing the ambition of becoming the party’s presidential flag-bearer in 2019 and that you even offered some of them the running mate slot?
These are all blatant lies. I challenge any governor to come out and testify that I said I would vie to be president and asked that he should be my running mate. I never told anybody that I wanted to be a presidential candidate. The problems are all from the South-West. The entire problem is between Governor Ayo Fayose, Governor Mimiko and Senator Buruji Kashamu. Some people want me to fight Kashamu for no reason. What is my business? He is a leader in his own right. And he helped a lot of them to come into office. I wasn’t in the party when they had all that problem, but he was helping the party. You can’t use me to fight your cause. For me, anyone working for the party should get his due respect. Anyone who tells you anything contrary to this is wrong. This is the problem.
The problems are all from the South-West. The entire problem is between Governor Ayo Fayose, Governor Mimiko and Senator Buruji Kashamu. Some people want me to fight Kashamu for no reason. What is my business
Why can’t you reach a compromise with the Makarfi-led Caretaker Committee?