Alhaji Sheriff, 60, was elected as Borno State governor on the platform of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) in 2003 and served for two terms until 2011. Following the creation of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which his ANPP was part of, he left the party and defected to the PDP, claiming he was being marginalised.
Controversial for his extravagance and squandermania, Alhaji Sheriff has also been the subject of investigation over his role in the emergence of Boko Haram. It was during his tenure that the terrorist sect gained a foothold in Borno State and one of its leading members was in his cabinet.
In June last year, Alhaji Sheriff handed himself in to the EFCC after the agency threatened to declare him wanted over a N300bn (£978m) corruption scandal. One of Nigeria's wealthiest men, Alhaji Sheriff purchased a top-of-the-range Gulfstream G650 private jet at a whopping cost of N11.5bn ($72m) in 2013, bringing the total number of aircrafts in his private fleet to four.
Despite all this, yesterday, however, the PDP's national executive committee named him the new party chairman. Alhaji Sheriff takes over from Uche Secondus, who administered the party as interim chairman since the resignation of Ahmadu Mu’azu after the 2015 general elections.
Olisa Metuh, the PDP's publicity secretary, said that Alhaji Sheriff has already been sworn into office. Alhaji Sheriff has always denied the allegations against him, including the claim that he was one of Boko Haram's main sponsors.
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