By; JACOB ONJEWU DICKSON
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on its members to ignore the media campaign of calumny being perpetrated by foot soldiers of erstwhile national Chairman of the party, Senator Ali Modu-Sherriff.
A statement signed by National Publicity Secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said that the source of the campaign of calumny, Friday Cairo Ojugboh is not in any position to speak on behalf of the party.
“The attention of the Senator Ahmed Makarfi led National Caretaker Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has once again been drawn to a Statement by Ali Modu Sheriff issued on his behalf by his man Friday Cairo Ojugboh wherein he made several allegations against the Governors of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, former President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, other elders and leaders of the PDP, respectively.
“Our first reaction after reading the concoction put together by Mr. Cairo Ojugboh in his statement titled: “State of affairs of the PDP” was to ignore him since he is not an officer of the PDP. But ignoring him may send wrong signal to the unsuspecting members of the public and members of our Party, hence the need for this clarification.
“Mr. Ojugboh in recent times have been making series of unfounded and unsubstantiated allegations against major stakeholders of the PDP especially, those people his renegade group believe are seriously against the evil intention of Ali Modu Sheriff to destroy the only main opposition voice in the Country, the PDP,” it stated.
It further stated that they are not surprised that Mr. Cairo would hallucinate and find pleasure in castigating Governors Nyesom Wike and Ayodele Fayose of Rivers and Ekiti states at every turn but has never been able to utter a single word of criticism against their paymaster, the Ruling APC despite its gross ineptitude and maladministration.
“For the record, the last Stakeholders Meeting convened and chaired by the former President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, was not sponsored or organized by Governor Wike or Fayose as alleged by Mr. Cairo Ojugboh. The need for the Meeting was agreed upon at the Residence of the Former National Security Adviser (NSA), Gen. Aliyu Gusau in the presence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, Professor Wale Oladipo, Senator David Mark, Senator Ahmed Makarfi and Sen. Ben Ndi Obi. Gen. Gusau and Senator Mark were mandated in that meeting to approach the former President to convene an all-inclusive meeting of stakeholders in order to chart a way forward for a lasting peace in the Party.
“In the light of the above therefore, it is uncharitable for Mr. Ojugboh to allege that the Stakeholders Meeting was organized and sponsored by Governor Wike and Governor Fayose. Indeed It is the height of lunacy for Sheriff and Cairo to allege that a person of President Goodluck Jonathan standing could be induced by anyone not the least a Governor to organize the Meeting. These people are pigs in the mud and they have no qualms in dragging decent people into the pit,” it added.
The party said it takes serious exception to the baseless allegation made by Mr. Cairo that Governor Wike bribed the Judiciary to get justice on the Rivers State Governorship Election at the Supreme Court.
“This is another high point of rascality by the Sheriff renegade group and we have been reliably informed that the latest accusation against the Judiciary is part of their calculated and clandestine plot to blackmail the Justices of the Supreme Court as they did to the Justices of the Special Appeal Panels during the Ondo State Gubernatorial Election case when the Panel led by Justice Sankey was falsely accused of collecting over N200 million from former Gov. Mimiko in November 2016.
“We believe the Judiciary and indeed all Nigerians are taking note of the antecedence of Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Co. as we urge the Judiciary not to ignore such weighty allegations by this irritant group.
“On the so called campaign by Senator Sheriff in the South-East and South-South zones of the Country, we thank our members and key stakeholders in the regions for not partaking in such illegality. The presence of the two Deputy Governors was solely on grounds of hospitality.
“The PDP is not organizing any campaign or rally around the Country at the moment and we urge our members to remain steadfast and continue to ignore any meeting called by Senator Sheriff and his doomsday naysayers. There will be no elective National Convention of the PDP as postulated by Senator Sheriff until the Appeal before the Supreme Court is decided. All our state chapters are advised to ignore any purported directive from the renegades,” it explained.
It re-iterated that Senator Sheriff and Co. are in defiant of the Court of Appeal Order of Status Quo Ante May 21, 2016 with self-appointed officers like Mr. Cairo Ojugboh.
“Only three officers are with him and therefore, such NWC is non-existent. As for the deputy officers who shamelessly assumed offices as NWC members on false claim of purported resignation of the substantive officers, your comic action against the Party speaks volume.
“In this context, we call on all organs of the Party: the Board of Trustees (BoT), the National Executive Committee (NEC), and the National Caucus; the informal organs and groups: the State, Federal and Senatorial constituencies, the Governors Forum, State Chairmen Forum, Former Governors Forum, Former Ministers Forum and other stakeholders/members in various states of the federation, our elders/founding fathers, the youths, women, and teeming supporters of the Party nationwide to continue supporting the Senator Ahmed Makarfi’s led National Caretaker Committee in moving the Party forward. The only interest of the National Caretaker Committee is the survival of the PDP against the suffocating influence of the Ruling APC.
“We believe strongly in the Judiciary and hope that the pending Appeal at the Supreme Court on the leadership issues in the Party will receive the needed attention. No individual in Nigeria is above the law and the Judiciary cannot be blackmailed by Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Co-travelers to compromise its mandate of justice delivery. We are also requesting the Supreme Court to find out from Cairo Ojugboh who among its officers that Governor Wike disbursed the USD 5m to as he alleged. Let Cairo be informed that he cannot pitch the good people of Rivers State against their loving and performing Governor over his childish and mindless allegation of financial impropriety,” the statement said.
It appealed to its leaders, other members and supporters that the purported NEC Meeting being summoned by Senator Sheriff’s led non-existent NWC on the 3rd of May, 2017 is a total fraud politically and legally.
“Also, ignore the request made by this confused and desperate group to states for the submission of delegates’ lists on or before the 27th of April, 2017. The PDP will announce meetings of the various organs of the Party at an appropriate time after due consultation with all the stakeholders. We therefore call on all our members to continue ignoring Senator Sheriff and his co-travelers who are only serving as sparing partners of the APC against the PDP,” it submitted.
