I Would Have Resigned If Sheriff Had Won, Says PDP BoT Chairman

Our Correspondents

More reactions thursday trailed the victory of Senator Ahmed Makarfi at the Supreme Court when the Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Walid Jibrin, said he would have resigned and left the party if the court had decided the case in favour of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff faction of the party.
He said he was overjoyed with the victory of the Makarfi faction at the court.

Jibrin who is recuperating on his sick bed, in a terse statement in Kaduna, said the judgment came at the right time for the PDP to put its house in order before the 2019 general election.

According to him, Makarfi’s victory at the court, saved the party from extinction as many would have left if the party had been handed over to Sheriff to lead.

“I would have resigned as PDP BOT chairman if Sheriff had won,” he said.
He called on members of the party to work together towards achieving a common goal now that the crisis in the party is over.

Sheriff Faction Insists on Lagos PDP Leadership
Despite the Supreme Court judgment, the Ali Modu Sheriff faction in Lagos State has maintained that it remains at the helms of affairs in Lagos State.

Addressing a press conference called at the PDP secretariat to congratulate Makarfi, the factional PDP chairman, Mr. Segun Adewale, insisted that the judgment has not affected his leadership in Lagos.

According to him, “We remain the bonafide PDP exco in Lagos State in the view of the fact that we emerged from an NWC properly conducted congress and remain so even with the landmark judgment of the Supreme Court. “Our exco has demonstrated an abiding loyalty to this party and it deserves leadership by refusing to jump ship irrespective of the goings-on at the national level.

“It was at the national convention that Sheriff was stopped. And that was when the issue of Sheriff – Makarfi caretaker committees came to be. There is nothing the judgment has to do with the state, local government or ward level.

“There is no where in the judgment that all that is done by Sheriff was invalidated. So, we are the bonafide – original executive committee members of this party.”
He contended that those that allegedly left the party for other parties lack the moral right to take over the party, stressing that “There is no way you cross carpet to Labour Party (LP) and you will be expected back to the PDP. PDP is like soldier go soldier come.”

Adewale congratulated Makarfi for the Supreme Court victory, which he said was a product of “doggedness and anticipated sense of fairness.” He advised the party chairman to, in the spirit of no-victor-no-vanquish, bring the various divergences in the party together and mould a party formidable enough to win elections and regain its lost glory.

Ohakim Hails Judgment on PDP Leadership Dispute
A former Governor of Imo State, Mr. Ikedi Ohakim, has hailed the recent Supreme Court ruling on the protracted leadership dispute in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), describing the judgment as an answered prayer by Nigerians.
Ohakim said in a statement yesterday that beyond the internal altercations within the party, the country was slipping into a lop sided political arrangement as a result of the leadership dispute in the opposition party.

According to him, the dispute provided even a more fertile ground for the reign of impurity in the governance of the country, the very same reason that led to the implosion within the PDP.

“Therefore, the elders and leaders of the PDP, together with its teeming members and supporters, should appreciate the fact it has been given another opportunity to correct its past mistakes and as well provide the generality of Nigerians with quality opposition in order to ensure that the collective gains made in sixteen years are not completely eroded. While the quarrel lasted, Nigerians were very much apprehensive of a possible slide into a one party arrangement, with its unpleasant consequences for a multicultural society like Nigeria,” he said.

Ohakim charged the PDP leaders and members to appreciate the fact that it is not a common occurrence to be given back an opportunity to return to full reckoning, which is what the Supreme Court ruling implies.

He argued that rather than any individual or group see the judgment as a win or loss, the attitude should be to thank Nigerians for their prayers and support, which ensured that the party, its leaders and members were given a rare second chance.

“The attitude should be that the PDP is one and that no one can defeat himself. While the quarrel lasted, the teeming members and supporters from both sides of the divide missed each other. They remembered with nostalgia the old fellowship in a party that, despite obvious short comings, nursed and sustained the nation’s democracy for sixteen unbroken years,” he added.

“While the quarrel lasted, each faction knew it needed the other and in spite of the grandstanding, had craved for today. The Supreme Court ruling should be seen as an admonition to a feuding couple to return home and mend fences; and almost always, such couples turn out to stay together in love and unity with the benefits of the experiences of the ugly past. This is my prayer for our great party,” the former Imo governor said.
Amala Politics Returns in Ibadan as Oyo PDP Celebrates Makarfi’s Victory

Hundreds of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thursday gathered at a local primary school in Ode Aje, Ibadan North East local government as they celebrated the victory of Senator Ahmed Makarfi, almost 24 hours after his declaration by the Supreme Court as the party’s leader.

Amid wild jubilation at Ward 8 of the council where the meeting held, supporters went into frenzy and danced melodiously to the victory songs rendered by party chiefs after eating Amala, Gbegiri and Ewedu, to celebrate Supreme Court’s judgement.

The State Secretary of the PDP who was also a former Chairman of Ibadan South East Local Government, Abiodun Adedoja Ekolo, sued for peace and appealed to members to begin house to house mobilisation of all PDP members and supporters of other political parties into the PDP’s fold.

Adedoja thanked the leaders who stood by the party while the national leadership crisis lasted especially a former Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory, Jumoke Akinjide, a former Senator, Ayoade Ademola Adeseun, a former Chief of Staff in the State, Dr. Saka Balogun and a former majority leader, House of Representatives, Mulikat Akande-Adeola.

The state secretary flanked by a former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Michael Lana, a former Chairman in Ona Ara, Akeem Oke, his counterparts in Ibadan South East and Oluyole councils, Abass Alesinloye and Lasun Salami respectively urged all to welcome the other members in Sheriff camp since Makarfi had declared ‘no Victor, no vanquished “.