It is not yet smooth sail for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in spite of Wednesday’s judgement of the Supreme Court sacking Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and affirming Senator Ahmed Makarfi as the authentic National Chairman of the party.
This is as a result of Sheriff’s rejection of the ‘amnesty’ extended to him and his loyalists for the harm they caused the party in the last one year.
The former Borno State Governor, who said that he did not commit any offence against the party warranting “amnesty”, described the use of the word as reckless.
In a statement by Mr. Bernard Mikko, his spokesman, Sheriff said: “Amnesty is a reprieve for those who have committed offence under our statutes. We did not occupy the office illegally or committed any offence.
“Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff was validly elected and was forced to vacate the National Secretariat after a joint meeting of the contending camps with the Inspector General of Police in the wake of thuggish attacks in the heat of conflicting court pronouncements.
“However, the office was officially re-opened for us after we presented the certified true copy (CTC) of the judgement of Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt division to the Inspector General of Police.
“I am therefore concerned about the future of our party in the hands of some of those who are known to have pending criminal cases bordering fraud, treasury looting and dishonesty with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
“The Supreme Court of Nigeria is the highest court in our land and we await the copy of the full judgement delivered on July 12, 2017.
“No one owns the party and those making unguarded and reckless statements in the public domain should realize that the solution to the problem of Nigeria is beyond any political association. Unacceptable and unjustifiable means cannot lead to a justifiable and acceptable end”.
Mikko had earlier yesterday issued a first statement in which he denied that Sheriff sent a congratulatory message to Makarfi on his twitter handle @senatorsheriff.
He said: “For the avoidance of doubt, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff does not have or own a twitter account and could not have tweeted any message.
“We therefore view the said message as fake and mischievous and should be discountenanced as that of evil doers.”
In a related development, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has declared yesterday in Ado Ekiti that Sheriff and his supporters would not go unpunished for causing the party so much set back.
“The no victor, no vanquished that we said was a mere political slogan. Whoever that participated in this charade must show some reasonable level of remorse for their actions,” he said.
Describing Sheriff and his group as impostors, Fayose said he would have burnt his PDP membership card if the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the other faction as “I never imagined myself being in the same party with impostors.”
He added: “I went to court with a bottle of perfume which I wanted to use to spray my cards and party flags and set them ablaze even within the court premises if Sheriff had won. That was why I went to court.
“Though, I believe that we remain the same PDP family but no one can cause our party such pains and embarrassment and expect that he would go without being asked to account for his actions”, he told newsmen.
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