Protesters besiege party secretariat
By Emeka Nze
Abuja
The takeover of Wadata Plaza Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff last week, has continued to generate war of words between his group and that of the party’s National Caretaker Committee, led by Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi.
Specifically, the Makarfi committee is accusing the police of taking side and assisting Sheriff in returning to the party secretariat, when both parties should have waited for the Supreme Court’s decision on the matter.
But to the Sheriff-led PDP, the rival group is only blackmailing his group ahead of the apex court’s judgement on the leadership tussle within the party.
Briefing newsmen yesterday in Abuja from a text entitled: “Let Sheriff Wait for the Supreme Court Judgement”, the spokesman of the group, Prince Dayo Adeyeye contended that the police was taking sides.
Adeyeye recalled that since the law enforcement agencies denied it access into the party headquarters when it obtained judgement from the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt Division, same treatment ought to have been handed out to Sheriff.
The group, therefore, called on “the police, the general public and all lovers of peace and democracy in the country to prevail on Sheriff and his group to respect the litigation process”.
Adeyeye accused the police to have taken sides in the conflict because of the directives it allegedly received from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to favour the Sheriff group.
“In the light of the above, we are calling on the police and the general public and lovers of peace and democracy to ask Senator Sheriff and Co. to respect the on-going litigation processes. The police should ensure that Sheriff and Co. do not occupy the National Secretariat in order to avoid breakdown of law and order.
“We have noticed that the police have taken sides in this matter, perhaps, because of directives of the APC but “a stitch in time saves nine.”
The committee spokesman reiterated that Sheriff’s group forcefully broke into the National Secretariat while the keys to the offices were in the custody of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT) as stipulated by Article 32(5)(e) of the PDP Constitution (As Amended in 2012).
“We know that the keys of the secretariat are still with the BoT but Sheriff entered by breaking the doors in an action totally unbecoming of a person who has been Governor of a State, Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and also claiming to be a National Chairman of a major political party. We therefore demand that Senator Sheriff and Co. vacate the National Secretariat immediately,” he demanded.
The party further claimed that Sheriff’s activities against the PDP were being aided and abetted by the governing APC, citing last week’s Rochas Okorocha’s unsolicited advice to the Makarfi group to support Sheriff.
Adeyeye also alleged that the Minister of Transport, Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has deployed his former Abuja Liaison Officer who was a former Intermediate Officer of the party, Mr. John Enebeli among others, to lure some members of staff in support of Senator Sheriff by promising them huge sums of money to offset their outstanding allowances.
“We have stated several times that the APC has its hand deep in the PDP crises. There is no doubt that Sheriff’s activities against the PDP are being aided and abated by the APC. For the record, just last week, the Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha gave unsolicited advice that we should support Senator Sheriff.
“Also, we have it on good authority that the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi has deployed his former Abuja Liaison Officer who was a former Intermediate Officer of the party, Mr. John Enebeli among others, to lure some members of staff in support of Senator Sheriff by promising them huge sums of money to offset their outstanding allowances.
“Senator Sheriff is equally luring some employees on the same jumbo promise. Let him recall that he made the same promise when he first assumed office only to dash the hope of the hapless employees.”
Adeyeye alerted that the Sheriff group has perfected plans to receive non-serving state executive committees at the National Secretariat in order to mislead unsuspecting public that he has been accepted by the party organs.
It’s mere blackmail –Sheriff group
Meanwhile, the Sheriff-led PDP yesterday accused the Makarfi group of blackmailing the Supreme Court, ahead of its final judgement on the leadership tussle in the party.
Sheriff’s PDP also declared that all the activities and programmes done by the Makarfi group, in the name of PDP, are illegal and ultra-vires.
Speaking for the group, former Political Adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Barrister Ahmed Gulak, said, “The Supreme Court belongs to all Nigerians. They have been talking and grandstanding as if the Supreme Court belongs to them.
“They said they will get judgement from Supreme Court as if it is their institution. They should stop blackmailing the Supreme Court.”
He continued: “This party is bigger than everybody. The law does not see your face. It is not a popularity contest, the law is the law”.
Gulak, who spoke in company of the Acting Publicity Secretary of Sheriff’s PDP, Hon Bernard Mikko, also justified their re-entry into the Wadata Plaza, adding that the premises was opened to them after the Court of Appeal judgement, noting that both camps had agreed not to head to the apex court.
He said, “It is fact that former Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, with the consent of both factions, closed the secretariat of PDP and both sides agreed because of the conflicting court judgement. The police shut the place in order to avert breakdown of law and order.
“Both parties agreed that in order to pursue genuine reconciliation nobody should pursue the case again in Supreme Court. Even if you get court victory, you still need the people, so that we can have a convention where national officers will be elected.”
He added that “all the things that the Makarfi group has done before the judgement were illegal and cannot stand.”
Gulak added that, “the current judgement of Appeal has superseded all lower court orders. They remain invalid. The only judgement that can invalidate the appeal court is the Supreme Court.”
“The crisis has had its impact on the party. The unnecessary crisis has taken too long. This party is supposed to be a vibrant opposition party to bring out ills and fallacies of the ruling party. But we have been dissipating energies on internal squabbles. That is why we say enough is enough.
“Forces of darkness have held the party down because of selfishness and impunity. We lost Edo and Ondo elections because of impunity. That is why we want to give the party back to the people.”
Meanwhile, protesters from the two groups have besieged the party secretariat at Michael Okpara Street at Wuse Zone 2.
While the pro-Makarfi protesters made up of mainly women are angry with the return of Sheriff to secretariat, the pro-Sheriff protesters were hailing the return of “an authentic national chairman.”
