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Tag: makarfi

  • A’Court Judgement: Makarfi remains chairman until S’Court decides – Fayose

     

    Following the reinstatement by the Appeal Court on Friday of Senator Ali-Modu Sheriff as Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum and Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose has said he remains loyal to the Ahmed Makarfi Caretaker Committee until the Supreme Court states otherwise.

    Fayose said this in a statement released in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday.

    According to the governor, the Makarfi faction had already appealed the Appeal Court’s ruling, adding that “when we got the judgement at the lower court, affirming the Caretaker Committee, Sheriff was still parading himself as the chairman.”

    Fayose also spoke about the 2018 governorship elections and the apprehension among some people whether he would lose or win.

    He said: “I’m aware that some people are apprehensive of 2018 but I want to say it here that they should worry not. What I know that will happen tomorrow is that I will get to greater heights.

    “There are three major important factors in elections, the people is number one, followed by the party and the candidate. You can have a party and candidate, if you don’t have the people, you will fail because the power of the people is greater than the power of those of us in power.

    “Here in Ekiti, we have the people. I am saying it here that we are under the leadership of the Ahmed Makarfi led Caretaker Committee.

    “When we got the judgement at the lower court, affirming the Caretaker Committee, Sheriff was still parading himself as the chairman. This time around too, we have appealed the Appeal Court judgement and as such, Makarfi remains our chairman until the Supreme court decides.”

     

  • Makarfi to appeal affirmation of Sheriff as PDP, National Chairman

    The Sen. Ahmed Markafi-led, National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the party would appeal the Court of Appeal Judgement affirming Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff as chairman of the party.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the Committee, Mr Dayo Adeyeye disclosed this in a statement issued on Friday in Abuja.

    Adeyeye described the judgement as a “big disappointment, travesty and miscarriage of justice.”

    “The minority judgement is very sound in law, logic and fact. It gives us hope that we will have our day in the Supreme Court.

    “Whereas the lead judgement left out the main issues and laboured unconvincingly to work to a preconceived answer, the minority judgement thrashed all the issues and upheld the judgement of the High Court in Port Harcourt, delivered by Liman J on July 4, 2016. `

    “We will certainly appeal to the Supreme Court. No reconciliatory effort will stop it.

    “We need the Supreme Court to make a pronouncement on the issue, once and for all,’’ he said.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that apart from affirming Sheriff as the National Chairman of the PDP, the appellant court also nullified the party’s National Convention held in the Rivers capital in 2016 and the National Caretaker Committee of the party constituted at the convention.

    Two out of the three-member Appeal Court, Justice B.G. Sanga and Justice A. Gumel, in the judgment, said the Port Harcourt convention was an abuse of court process.

    Delivering the lead judgment, Sanga said that PDP did not follow the provisions of Article 47(3) of its Constitution in the removal of the Sherrif-led National Working Committee.

  • Those that defected from PDP to other parties will lose their mandate – Makarfi

    The National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Sen Ahmed Makarfi, has warned that elected officials who defected to other parties will “pay a political price.”

    Speaking during the party’s caucus meeting held in Abuja, the former Kaduna State governor said the party would reclaim the seats won by its former members, who defected to other parties

    He described the defection of some PDP elected officials to other parties as an “unwise decision.’’

    According to Makarfi, “For those, who are running helter skelter for one reason or the other to say they are cross carpeting.

    “There is no division in PDP and it is unfortunate, but they will pay a political price for such unwise decision.

    “I assure you, it is painful to lose anybody, but it was unwise decision taken by them.

    “I assure you what is coming to PDP is much larger than what you may have contemplated and left PDP.

    “So I am not bordered in the sense that it is a temporary setback, but more for them, because we are going to reclaim the seats, which they are occupying, because there is no division in PDP.’’

    Makarfi’s warning is coming at a time when a senator representing Akwa Ibom South, Nelson Effiong, cross-carpeted from the party to the All Progressives Congress, APC.

  • I am ready to return to negotiating table with Makarfi- Sheriff

    The factional Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sen. Ali Modu-Sheriff said he was ready to return to negotiating table with Sen. Ahmed Makarfi-led faction.

    He, however, stressed that the Makarfi-faction must be willing to make peace for that to happen.

    Sheriff stated this when he received some members of the PDP Federal Capital Territory (FCT), who paid him solidarity visit on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Sheriff said that he had on several occasions tried to resolve the party crisis with the Makarfi faction.

    He said that this he did by suggesting that both the Caretaker Committee and his National Working Committee be dissolved, to give way for a new independent leadership.

    “I have made several peace moves but the caretaker committee has refused to agree.

    “We have therefore resigned our fate to the decision of their Lordships of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Courts.

    “However, we are ready to return to the negotiation table today, if Sen. Makarfi sees reason to do so,’’ he said.

    Sheriff said that he was committed to returning the party to the grassroots in spite several blackmail he had been receiving.

    “Our task is to return the party to the grassroots.

    “To this end, we shall continue to review all the states chapters that are affected before the Convention.

    “We are discussing with key stakeholders willing to return to the party and we are making steady progress.”

    Sheriff added that if the talks among the stakeholders would yield positive result, the party would hold its national convention in the first quarter of 2017 to elect new leaders.

    “Hopefully, we shall conduct a free and fair convention in the first quarter of 2017.

    “In the cause of the last six months, we have worked assiduously to reposition our great party, the PDP, through harnessing of the enormous potential of the party at the grassroots.

    On Rivers re-run legislative elections, Sheriff said he was waiting for the report of the delegation he sent to the state before he could take any position on the election.

    “I have set up an 11-Man Committee which I sponsored to Rivers to observe the election and report back to me.

    “The committee is yet to give me its report.

    “I will make public my position as soon as I receive the detailed report on the election, because it is better for me to speak based on fact.’’

    The Sheriff faction used the occasion to observe a minute silence for the victims of the recent Adamawa bomb blast and the Akwa-Ibom church building collapse.

    Sheriff also condoled with the families of the deceased.

  • Our agenda to reclaim power from APC will be top secret – Makarfi

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Caretaker Committee Chairman, Ahmed Makarfi, has asserted that the party is keeping as top secret how it will reclaim power from the, All Progressives Congress, APC.

    Makarfi also expressed optimism that the party will reclaim its alleged stolen Ondo mandate in court.

    Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had declared Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, winner of the November 26 governorship election in the state after polling 244,842 votes to beat his closest rival, Eyitayo Jegede of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who polled 150, 380 votes, while Mr Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, followed with 126, 889 votes.

    The former Kaduna State governor also maintained that the leading opposition party will return to power in 2019.

    Speaking in an interview with Daily Trust, on what made him so sure, Makarfi said, “If I tell you that, it will be like disclosing the secret of the PDP and I won’t do that.”

    Speaking further, Makarfi said, “The future of the PDP is very bright. We know that it’s not going to be an easy task. We are passing through the worst period you can ever think of, but we will recover.

    “Well, Edo, to me, was manipulated and taken away. That is why we are at the tribunal, and we believe that if good work is done by our counsels at the tribunal, we will remain above board. We believe we are going to win because we have a new judiciary. It is far more responsive, fair and just. I believe our mandate will return to us.

    “When we went to Ondo, there were factors and room for complaints. Some factors were within the control of stakeholders while some were beyond them. Some were external, which we are much aware of. The internal issue relates to state politics and other issues that are really state-based. I really won’t go into details. On external factors, our candidate was finally cleared two days before the election, and to move around the state in two days to cover grounds was a tall order.

    “Again, INEC’s position that the submitted list of agents was by the party was a problem. The law stated that they were party agents, not candidate’s, hence they were recognised. This prompted a big question: which party? We didn’t submit the list of agents. Those who took us to court, the Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff camp, just submitted the list of agents, which INEC accepted.

    “Naturally, you wouldn’t expect them to be effective agents because the person they wanted was not the one standing for the election. I think INEC should have considered the recent court judgement and given the party the leeway to change its agents if it so desired, thereby escaping from sharing some blames for virtually lack of representation at the polling units.

    “Again, if you look the video clip being circulated by Jimoh Ibrahim, where he boasted and gave reasons why they went to court etc, it is clear that it was intended to destabilise the PDP and prevent the candidate from campaigning. So the Modu Sheriff side has spoken, through their candidate, that the reason they were in the race was to prevent the PDP from winning. Even the blind and the dumb can draw a conclusion that very serious anti-party activities took place.

    “I was disappointed by the result and what happened; but if you ask me whether I am really bothered as we walk towards 2019, I will tell you I am not. When we had a central government in the PDP, which stand-alone election did we lose? But when the general election came, what happened? So a stand-alone election needs a party with central power to mobilise everything there to come up with a particular result, but when general election comes, you are on your own; there is no gang-up per se. If you are on ground, you are on ground, if you are not, I am sorry. So no matter the difficulty, we will continue participating in elections, believing that when it comes to general elections, the story will be different.”