PDP CRISIS: STEP DOWN FOR SHERIFF – DICKSON TELLS MAKARFI

The lingering lead­ership crisis with­in the opposition People’s Democratic (PDP took another turn over the weekend, when Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, the Chairman of the PDP Reconciliation Com­mittee, called on the Ahmed Makarfi-led Caretaker Com­mittee to step down in the interest of the party.

Dickson said the stage was now set for all the key stakeholders and elders of the party to influence the caretaker committee to yield its authority to the Ali Sher­iff-led leadership.

His words: “When the idea of making Sheriff the National Chairman of our party was hatched, I person­ally kicked against it.

“I also turned down all the overtures from Sheriff because I did not believe in him and what he did. So now, my position is that we have to move forward. I am a politician of conviction,

I am not a politician of con­venience and I am not a typ­ical Nigerian politician.”

Dickson expressed these positions yesterday while ad­dressing newsmen in Abuja.

He further explained that the PDP had come to a threshold when the right po­litical decision should be tak­en to end the lingering crisis.

According to him: “The Makarfi–led Caretaker Com­mittee should remember that it was a brainchild of the ma­jority of party members, in­cluding the convention in Port Harcourt.”

“I and up to 80% of the population of the PDP mem­bers were for Makarfi but the unfolding events have com­pelled us to adopt a political resolution instead of embark­ing on further bickering.”

“As politicians and demo­crats, we must first obey the constitution and all other in­struments of civil rule and which include obeying the judiciary.’’

“We had expected that the Court of Appeal would give us judgment, but it rather up­held Sheriff as the National Chairman of the party.

“Whether anybody likes Sheriff’s face or not, the Ma­karfi-led Caretaker Commit­tee was stripped of its authority to manage the affairs of the party the day the judge­ment was delivered.”

“It was in the spirit to honour the court’s pro­nouncement that the party’s reconciliation committee that I chair, submitted its report on how we shall move for­ward with Sheriff.”

“In fact, as it stands now, Sheriff has started address­ing issues within the party, he is the one sending names of party members contesting elections in various states.

“If there is going to be a by-election in Makarfi’s home state, Kaduna today, INEC would not accept cor­respondences from Makarfi any longer because his busi­ness in the party has ended,” said Dickson.

Explaining that Sena­tor Sheriff had always been inclined towards a political resolution of the crisis, Dick­son said that Makarfi had re­mained adamant.

His words: “So, the recon­ciliation committee which I chair met several times to review our position in the light of the Court of Appeal’s judgement.

“The reality is that Ma­karfi no longer has the legal backing to carry on with the task of managing the party.

“We are aware of this quagmire, and therefore, the reconciliation commit­tee went ahead to formulate a realistic, practical and stra­tegic response to this reality because in the end, it would be to the benefit of the PDP.’’