The leadership battle in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) resumed yesterday as Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Senator Ali Modu Sheriff disagreed over the immediate reopening of the party’s national secretariat which has been under lock and key since June last year.
But Sheriff’s camp has called for patience over the clamour for the reopening of the secretariat.
While both camps have been operating from separate secretariats, staff of the party had on Tuesday called on the police to immediately unlock the party secretariat. They also appealed to the judiciary to speedily give judgement in the legal tussle surrounding the leadership of the party.
Spokesman of Sheriff’s faction, Bernard Mikko, told LEADERSHIP that “party faithful, secretarial staff and supporters should be patient as the leadership crisis leading to invitation of Fulani herdsmen by some members of staff to violently subvert the law is resolved.”
But on his part, the spokesman of Makarfi’s camp commended the staff over their position in the matter.
He said: “It is our firm belief that keeping the PDP national secretariat locked since June 2016 till date is ochestrated by the ruling party to decimate and silence our Party from providing viable opposition.
“The gross incompetence of the All Progressive Congress (APC) to deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians has pitched it against the progress of the PDP.
“This is shameful, inexplicable and unfortunate as the PDP, in 16 years, did not interfere with internal affairs of opposition political parties or use instruments of state to shut down their secretariats due to internal crisis or for anything whatsoever. We allowed all parties in the country to strive and stabilise our democracy for which the APC is the primary beneficiary of in the 2015 general elections.
“We demand, as a matter of urgency, the unconditional reopening of the national secretariat of the PDP to allow staff access into their offices to carry out the duties of holding the government in power accountable.”
He warned that the harassment and intimidation of the opposition in Nigeria by the APC-led administration portends grave danger for democracy in the country and lauded the judiciary for defending the rule of law.
“We again commend the Nigerian judiciary for its effort to actualise the principles of separation of powers, which is the main pillar of democracy, and therefore urge the courts to keep up the good work by maintaining independence on all matters brought before it.
“In the same vien, we pray the Appeal Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State to deliver the reserved judgment on the party’s leadership issues pending before it to allow the PDP concentrate on its rebuilding process and to provide alternative governance in the country. There is no gainsaying that any democracy without a viable opposition is considered a dictatorship, unstable, unhealthy and recipe for anarchy.
“We also urge the National Judicial Council (NJC) to urgently do the needful in respect of the petition submitted against the Special Appeal Panel of the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.”
According to him, the current petition, like the two previous ones, is another delay tactics the Sheriff faction had devised to frustrate PDP membership nationwide
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