Sheriff group won’t hold PDP parallel convention – Ojougboh

The Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

will not organise a parallel national convention of the party, a former national
vice chairman of the party in the South-south, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh, who is
Sheriff’s deputy, has disclosed.
The Makarfi-led national caretaker committee had slated August 17, 2016 for
the party’s national convention to be held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and
inaugurated an 88-man zoning committee ahead of the convention.
Speaking with Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja, Dr. Ojougboh said Sheriff was not
planning a parallel convention, but was law abiding and would not send
nominees to form the convention committee being planned by the Makarfi
committee.
He said the order of an Abuja High Court which affirmed Sheriff as the
authentic national chairman of the PDP and ordered the Independent National
Commieeion (INEC) to recognise his candidates for the Edo and Ondo States
governorship elections had not been vacated, stressing that if the party
organises a convention next month, it would stand another risk of losing the
2019 general elections.
He said party leaders and stakeholders from the various states won by the All
Progressives Congress (APC) in the last general elections needed to be
harmonised into one strong force before the convention, adding that Sheriff
must review the congresses recently held national wide on the ground that they
were manipulated by PDP governors.
He said Sheriff remained the only authentic national chairman of the party to
preside over the convention and the convention must be held in Abuja, not Port
Harcourt, where he claimed Governor Wike is likely to “manipulate” it.
“If they (Makarfi-led caretaker committee) think they can have a convention like
that, let them go ahead but we (Sheriff’s camp) will remain law abiding and tell
the court what happened.
“Sheriff has appealed the judgement of the Port Harcourt High Court which
validated Makarfi’s leadership. So if we hurriedly go for the convention, the
same mistakes that made us to lose the 2015 elections in Benue, Plateau, Kebbi
and many other states will make us lose the 2019 elections. So for now, we
won’t be part of the so-called convention,” he said.Dailytrust