Last month, former Borno State governor Alhaji Sheriff, controversial for his extravagance and squandermania, was named as the new PDP chairman by the party's national executive committee. His appointment has attracted a lot of criticism as many party members object to the image Alhaji Sheriff presents, while some of his supporters want him to carry on beyond the May 21 convention.
Yesterday, the PDP's board of trustees met in Abuja, however and warned Alhaji Sheriff against extending his tenure beyond May 21. Acting board chairman Senator Walid Jibrin, said such a move by Alhaji Sheriff would lead to anarchy and trouble for the party.
In February, principal organs of the party, including its governors forum gave Alhaji Sheriff a three-month tenure, which is expected to end with the party’s national convention tentatively fixed for May 21. Senator Jibrin enjoined Alhaji Sheriff to ignore those he described as sycophants and praise singers and vacate the seat after the party’s national convention.
Also, Senator Jibrin warned against any subversion of the zoning arrangement proposed by the Ike Ekweremadu’s Post-Election Review Committee, which zoned the party’s 2019 presidential ticket to the north. He urged all party members to abide by agreements its leaders had agreed to.
Senator Jibrin said: “I want to advice Senator Ali Modu Sherif on the consequences of the evil machinations of praise singers and prophets of doom on the approval of the PDP Governors’ Forum, national causes, the board of trustees and the national executive committee terminating his tenure and that of the national working committee on May 21, 2016. The above responsible bodies have approved that the tenure of national officers will end after the convention.
“Instead of listening to praise singers, Modu Sherif should follow the path of honour and integrity by simply taking a bow in May 2016 after the national convention. “May I also strongly warn on the dangers of not adhering to the recommendations of Senator Ike Ekweremadu’s Post Election Review Committee 2015 that the party should seek its 2019 presidential candidate from the north of Nigeria to compensate for the obvious violation of the zoning arrangement in the 2011 election which led to a major apathy against the party in the north from 2011, culminating in the poor performance of the party in the 2015 elections."
He added that anyone who tries to reverse this position by changing it with another one will forever remain an enemy to the north, a mercenary and killer of the PDP. Senator Jibrin maintained that the board of trustees would resist any move by anybody to destroy the party, insisting that Alhaji Sheriff should come out with a clear position on the matter to exonerate himself from such plot.
In a swift reaction, Alhaji Sheriff said he was not contemplating staying beyond the three-month tenure given him by the party. He spoke through his special assistant on media Inuwa Bwala.
Mr Bwala said: “The PDP national chairman has consistently stated that he would not spend one day beyond the time he had to serve the party. He has a job to do and he is focused on doing it as his job is to reposition the party and set it on the track of glory.”
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