PDP Leadership Tussles: Sheriff says He Will Fight To The End

The factional chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, says he will fight to the end and uphold his demands in the midst of the party’s leadership crisis.

Senator Sheriff told Channels Television on Sunday that he had handed a list of his demands to the committee setup to reconcile the members.

Crisis in the party deepened after a national convention held in May led to the removal of Senator Sheriff and the setting up of caretaker committee led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

Open And Transparent Convention

After he was removed, Senator Sheriff dismissed the decision of the party members, insisting that a court had issued an order barring the party from holding the convention.

On Sunday, however, he stressed that he was willing to resign if the other faction would agree to hold an open and transparent convention in Abuja.

“What I want is that the convention should be an open and transparent convention held in Abuja where everybody will participate.

“I work with my principles.

“We will not let PDP to be hijacked by few people – Governor of Rivers State, [Nyesom Wike] and Governor [Ayodele] Fayose,” he stressed.

The former Governor of Borno State said he had reached an agreement with the reconciliation committee when they presented their recommendations to the him.

He stated that an agreement was reached for the convention that the party planned to hold on August 17 to be shifted.

The embattled leader of the PDP believes the other faction would go ahead with the convention, which he said would violate a court order that it should not hold.

On his alleged ambition to vie for the Presidential candidate of the party, Senator Sheriff said he had never had any discussion with anyone on the matter.

“I have never discussed with anyone about any plan to run for presidency,” he said.

Few days after his removal in May, the former spokesman for the Goodluck Jonathan political campaign team, Mr Femi Fani-Kayode, alleged that Senator Sheriff had link with the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Senator Sheriff, however, denied the allegation, claiming that the Boko Haram sect killed three of his brothers.

“How can I have a link with Boko Haram. They killed three of my brothers.

“I feel sad that I was linked with Boko Haram. People I served with when I was Governor know I will never be part of such thing,” he reiterated.

The PDP lost the presidency to the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the 2015 election and the party has faced leadership crisis that has largely divided the party.

Senator Sheriff said the loss was as a result of impunity in the party, but still believed the party would not be destroyed.

He also dismissed claims that he holds allegiance to the ruling APC and had been planted to scuttle the opposition party from repositioning ahead of the 2019 general elections.

[Channels TV]