Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, Ayo Fayose, has said that unforeseen circumstances that sprang up after some leaders of the party (including himself) asked Ali Modu Sheriff to lead the PDP made them to change their minds about Sheriff’s competence.
Fayose, who was a guest on FOCUS NIGERIA, a live political programme on AIT, said Nigerians should stop viewing them as leaders that refuse to respect the rule of law but should understand that in politics, nothing is sacrosanct.
He explained that in a democracy which is characterized by a fragile political situation, circumstances can change in a minute and cause one to rethink the position on a particular issue.
The governor explained that it was until later that they discovered Sheriff lacked the capacity to lead an all-inclusive party like the PDP that has a good spread across the country. Hence, it was necessary to replace him.
Fayose said that the national convention of the party that was scheduled to hold in Port-Harcourt last year would have produced a South-Westerner from among Bode George, Jimi Agbaje, or Prof. Adeniran as national chairman, which would have put the leadership crisis in the party to rest, had that convention not been thwarted by Sheriff and his cohorts.
He said the choice of a Southerner for the national chairmanship position of the party was a common-sense fact and morally right since the party has decided that a Northerner will fly its flag in 2019.
The governor insisted that, for posterity sake, some leaders of the PDP will appeal the ruling of the appellate court that affirmed Sheriff as the leader of the party. He said the removal of Sheriff will bring a lasting solution to the crisis in the party, which, according to him, will fizzle out soon.
He said: “In politics, what you say today; circumstances can change it tomorrow. The reason is this; a minute is too long in politics. So many things can happen in politics. Nothing changes the party but it is the individuals in the party that makes things happen.
“In a political situation like this; when you say it will happen this way circumstance can change it. So nothing is sacrosanct in politics.
“Let me say to you, if we got it wrong at first, we would have had another opportunity to get it right had the Port-Harcourt convention held last year, which could have produced a South-Western as national chairman of the party.
“These days, nobody has the right to zone any office to a particular geopolitical zone. Zoning is not in the constitution, Zoning is just a gentleman’s agreement that leadership should be rotational.
“If President Jonathan had allowed somebody in the North to contest for presidency under the PDP, President Buhari would not have had a field day in the North. Zoning is just common sense and morally right but it is not in the constitution of the party or the constitution of Nigeria.
“There are three ingredients that produce tomorrow in politics. They are the people, the party, and the candidate. I want to tell you the people component is the most important. Makarfi has the people of the party behind him.
“The amount of stalwarts that turned-up for the Makarfi stakeholders meeting shows you where the people are in the party.
“The PDP was founded on some many interests – the minority, the majority, everybody – it is an all-inclusive party that has a good spread. It is like a sleeping lion. So, anybody that is playing to the gallery or playing games with us should remember that what goes around will come around.
“Again let me tell you Ali Modu Sheriff joined PDP after a while. He will not say he is a founding member of the PDP. We will not abandon PDP to Sheriff or anybody. We will take the whole matter to a logical conclusion for posterity sake.
“To bring lasting peace in the PDP, we do not want Sheriff in any capacity in the party. That is the long and short of the solution to the PDP leadership crisis.
“If you want to lead PDP, there are certain things that must be part of the leadership qualities you must show. I reiterate we do not want Sheriff as our leader. Makarfi is our national chairman.
“This crisis will fizzle away. Let us watch and see.”
Meanwhile, the Office of former President Goodluck Jonathan media has refuted reports that the ex-President on Monday endorsed Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Dr. Jonathan’s media aide, Mr. Ikechukwu Eze, said in a statement, Tueday, that the issue of endorsement never came up in the course of the visit, “at the closed door meeting with Sheriff nor during the former President’s interview with newsmen.”
Mr. Eze said that the reported endorsement was mischievous.
According to him, Dr. Jonathan received Sen. Sheriff, “as a former President and foremost leader of the party, welcomed Sheriff and some of his supporters to his house, in line with a mediation role he is playing towards unifying and strengthening the PDP.”
He further stated that Jonathan opened his doors to Sheriff upon his request, just as he had earlier done to the Makarfi-led caretaker committee members, adding that the former President is prepared to broker more talks until the issues in the leadership of the PDP were finally resolved.
Mr. said, “In deed, it may interest you to know that after meeting with Sheriff, the former President also met with Senator Ahmed Makarfi, leader of the PDP Caretaker Committee, and the party’s Board of Trustees chairman, Senator Walid Jubril, later in the evening.
“As a peace-loving leader of the party, the former President’s interest is to help reposition PDP to enable it play a constructive role in the affairs of the nation, in view of the imperative of deepening the nation’s democracy.
“I wish to let those spinning this falsehood know that it just doesn’t add up to fly a contrived banner of endorsement in one breath, and in another, concede that the former President explained his commitment in meeting with different interest groups, towards resolving the differences in the party.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the following are the former President’s exact words during the interview with newsmen, as had accurately been reported by most online and major national newspapers, as well as, broadcast organisations:
“‘We (PDP) are not factionalised. We are one. We are solving our problems. There are bound to be differences in politics. It is the way we resolve these differences that make us human beings and that is what makes us leaders. I have met with Sheriff. And I have met with others. I will still meet with others, so that we will be able to do what is expected of us as a political party.’
“While we appreciate the interest of journalists in the coverage of the activities of the former President, we urge accurate and constructive reporting, as it is a known fact that we cannot truly develop our nation, if journalists continue to twist and fabricate stories with the intent of misinforming the public.” – Additional report from Daily Post.
