Wants Mark as BoT chair
By Emeka Nze
Abuja
Former Acting National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, has refused to shift grounds as stakeholders make efforts to resolve the crisis plaguing the party.
Although the party conceded to Sheriff by agreeing to hold its National Convention in Abuja, the ousted party leader is still insisting that the Board of Trustees’ resolution to that effect, still fell short of the decisions reached by the Governor Seriake Dickson-led reconciliation committee which has Ibrahim Mantu as deputy.
For total truce to be achieved, the former Borno state governor is asking for the dissolution of the Mohammed Ahmed Makarfi-led caretaker committee, and the resignation of the BoT chair, Senator Walid Jibrin , saying the party goofed by passing a vote of confidence on the ‘illegal’ caretaker committee.
In Jibrin’s place, he demanded that former Senate President David Mark be brought up in order to move the party forward.
These positions were contained in a statement by the Deputy National Chairman of the faction, Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh, yesterday in Abuja.
He said, the caretaker committee did not deserve any vote of confidence having failed twice to organise a convention for the party, even as, according to him, the BoT had, on numerous occasions flouted terms of reconciliation by “going public with misguided and provocative statements.”
Ojougboh, who signed the statement on behalf of Sheriff, said the Makarfi committee had defied advice of well-meaning Nigerians to resign in order to save democracy.
The statement, in part, read: “We completely reject the vote of confidence passed on the illegal caretaker committee because a committee that has failed twice to successfully organise a convention on two occasions is a failure.
“Consequently, we can now confidently inform the general public that well-meaning Nigerians have been urging Senator 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 multiparty democracy in Nigeria and stop impunity that has been the bane of internal democracy.”
Continuing, the party leader claimed that Jubrin-led BoT has brought crisis to the party, noting that “in any case his tenure has expired as he has spent more than 10 years as Secretary and Chairman BOT which runs contrary to the Constitution. “A party where we have eminently qualified persons like Senator David Mark, Babangida Aliyu and others, cannot be led by unstable individuals controlled by the love for money.”
“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 the convention committee will be agreed upon, a new convention committee set up, 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.”
