Despite
the division within the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) over his choice as national chairman, other organs of the PDP yesterday
finally settled for the controversial former governor of Borno State, Senator
Modu Sheriff, as its new chairman to replace Alhaji Adamu Muazu who resigned
last year.
Addressing stakeholders, who stayed back till late yesterday evening, the National Publicity Secretary of PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, said Sheriff, who was once accused of being a sponsor of Boko Haram and had variously been a member of the defunct All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was now the substantive national chairman of the party. Allegations of Sheriff's links to Boko Haram have never been proven.
Metuh said his selection was ratified by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party at its meeting yesterday.
In his acceptance speech, Sheriff pledged to galvanise all party members and structures into action to ensure the re-emergence of the PDP into a formidable force that would retake power in 2019.
Sheriff, who was immediately sworn in, said he would formally take over from Mr. Uche Secondus, who have been that party’s acting chairman, today.
“The task ahead of us is very challenging, the task is to rebuild this party; carrying everybody along and make sure that PDP secures victory in 2019.
“I know that some people have expressed some feelings, which are allowed in any democracy but I want to assure everybody that for the choice you made today, nobody will regret it. PDP will win come 2019,” he said.
Sheriff pleaded with those who may have opposed his emergence to give him a chance and to join hands with him to rebuild the party to regain its lost glory.
According to him, he would carry everybody along and would not harbour any ill-feelings.
“PDP is a party that has structures across the country, it is a party that is focused, all we need to do is to join hands together to achieve success. It is not the task of Sheriff alone, we will pilot this party to success in 2019,” he added.
He promised that there would no witch-haunt and would not leave anyone out of the scheme of things during his reign.
“For the past 16 years, PDP won elections and controlled the government at the federal level for a long period of time. Therefore there is no reason why we should not recover and become stronger in the days ahead,” he said.
He vowed that the next time PDP forms a government in 2019, it would be for keeps. “I want to assure you that by tomorrow we will kick off this party,” he said.
Before his endorsement by NEC, the party was split between those for and against Sheriff’s emergence.
THISDAY gathered from a source who was privy to what transpired during the BoT meeting that the choice of Sheriff was made by the governors and the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party.
However, it was learnt that party chieftains like the Senate Minority Leader Godswill Apkabio expressed reservations over the likely consequences of choosing Sheriff as the party chairman.
But the matter got to a head when the governors felt uncomfortable over the opposition to his emergence by members of the PDP BoT, which the governors saw as an affront.
Although the National Caucus of the party had endorsed Sheriff after screening all the aspirants from the North-east zone, his selection apparently met a brick wall when it was submitted to the BoT meeting for their endorsement.
A party source, who spoke on the proceedings at the BoT meeting, said many of the members objected to the choice, complaining about the negative image PDP may likely suffer should he be foisted on the party.
“The choice of Sheriff is causing a protracted argument and the matter has prolonged the BoT meeting. Even the NEC meeting will have to wait until there is a breakthrough on this issue,” he said earlier yesterday.
The ex-Borno governor was to have formally taken over as Mu’azu’s replacement after the leadership caucus meeting in the afternoon, but things turned sour when his nomination was tabled before the BoT for deliberation.
The BoT meeting, which was not open to the public, saw members arguing for hours among themselves over the choice of Sheriff until it got stalemated and the leaders began to leave one after the other, THISDAY gathered.
Worried by the dicey situation, members of the NWC led by Secondus hurriedly left the venue of the BoT meeting in the company of some governors for further consultations.
Metuh, who had provided updates on the progress being made to choose a new chairman, however, said the decision of the party was a product of consensus of a majority of the stakeholders, adding that 11 PDP governors out of 12 were present at the meetings.
Reacting to the emergence of Sheriff, a chieftain of the PDP, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, said: “I do not often speak publically about the internal affairs of the PDP because I have always chosen to remain well above the fray. This is because I have good friends in every single group and on all sides that constitute the party.
“However, given today’s events there appears to be deep cause for concern. It is clear to me that more than at any other time in almost 17 years of its existence, the PDP needs serious prayers.”
He, however, said that it would not be proper for any member of the party to threaten to pull out of the party as a result of the decision on the new chairman, which he admitted was a product of wide consultations.
Earlier, Metuh, after the leadership caucus meeting of the party, said the caucus having carefully considered of all those who showed interest in occupying the chairmanship seat, settled for Sheriff as the common choice for the post.
He explained that Sheriff's nomination was the product of separate assessments independently conducted by various power blocks such as the PDP Governors’ Forum, NWC, the National Assembly Caucus and National Leadership Caucus.
The PDP spokesman also explained that the absence of the former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, at the screening exercise swayed the decision in Sheriff’s favour.
Metuh explained that the Adamawa-born politician asked to be exempted from the exercise on personal grounds.
Other chairmanship aspirants, who also took part in the screening were Senator Saidu Kumo (Gombe), Wilberforce Juta (Adamawa), Lawal Grigiri (Yobe), Hon. Mohammed Wakili (Borno) and Shehu Gabam (Bauchi). No aspirant indicated interest from Taraba State.
Also reacting to the selection of the new chairman of PDP, its South-east and South-south caucuses in the Senate rejected the choice of Sheriff.
The senators, who immediately flagged off consultations upon learning that Sheriff had the upper hand among other aspirants for the post, promptly kicked against his emergence.
Sources in the Senate said yesterday that the senators resolved not to have anything to do with a PDP-led by Sheriff.
One senator said: “We are worried about the news of possible emergence of Senator Modu Sheriff as chairman of the PDP. We are worried that some persons are not thinking of the need to move the party forward.
“We feel there is every need to raise the credibility of the party after the debacle of the last general election. It is not fair to saddle the party with the burden that the chairmanship of Senator Modu Sheriff would bring to the party at this time.
“We all know the issue that has been around Senator Sheriff. For sometime now, his name has been consistently linked with the Boko Haram issue and we need to allow him to clear his name rather than bother him with the leadership of the PDP at this time.
“If those pushing for the former senator succeed, I can tell you that the nation will witness massive defection from the PDP. We in the South-east and South-south are ready to leave the PDP.”
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