Modu-Sheriff PDP Faction Rejects BoT Recommendations On New Party National Convention

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Wednesday, August 31st, 2016

By Ganiyu Nasirudeen

ABUJA, NIGERIA (AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The stalemate in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leadership tussle persisted Tuesday as the factional party’s National acting head Senator Ali Modu-Sheriff rejected the recommendations of PDP Board of Trustees (BoT) on its new National Convention.

Modu-Sheriff’s decline was contained in a statement issued Tuesday in Abuja by the factional acting Deputy National Chairman, Dr Cairo Ojougboh.

It would be recalled the PDP BoT in a communiqué issued after its meeting which held Monday in Abuja advised the National Caretaker Committee of the party headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi to hold the next National convention in Abuja, with a new convention planning committee.

The statement stated that this was to ensure a “credible, transparent, free and fair convention”, recommending that a new convention planning committee should be constituted by the National Caretaker Committee and subsequently approved by National Executive Committee (NEC).

The communiqué also recommended that BoT would facilitate raising of adequate funds for the party’s activities, including the convention. The party highest organ also passed a vote of confidence on the caretaker committee and charged it to convene a meeting of the NEC of the party as quickly as possible.

But, Sheriff’s group while reacting Tuesday said that the outcome of the BoT meeting on Monday fell short of its earlier decision with party’s reconciliation committee.

Still, Modu-Sheriff indicated that after deliberating on the reported outcome of the BoT his faction has resolved that the resolutions did not align with the Dickson/Mantu reconciliation committee.

“The agreement we had is that Sheriff should chair a National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting where Makarfi will attend as a member of the BoT.

“At the meeting, a Chairman of convention committee will be agreed upon; a new convention committee setup, including all other sub-committees, zoning, finance, accreditation, etc.

“The venue of the convention will be in Abuja, where a new leadership of the party will emerge, internal democracy will be respected and Confidence will return to the party,’’ the former Borno Governor’s faction recalled.

Modu-Sheriff said he had expected that every party would be given opportunity to return to the one umbrella “and shake hands and will see the PDP re-emerge for the challenges ahead’’.

The faction stressed it “completely reject the vote of confidence passed on the `illegal caretaker committee’ because a committee that has failed twice to successfully organize a convention on two occasion is a failure’’.

“Consequently, we can now confidently inform the general public that well-meaning Nigerians should urge Sen. Makarfi to resign to save democracy.

“We, therefore, call on his friends and associates and family to advise him to do the needful and resign now to save multi-party democracy in Nigeria and stop impunity that has been the bane of internal democracy”.

Modu-Sheriff led faction also alleged that the BoT Chairman, Sen. Walid Jubrin, brought crisis to the party, saying “his tenure has expired as he has spent more than 10 years as secretary and chairman of BoT, which runs contrary to the Constitution…”