Factional National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff, has said that he will not relinquish his claim to the leadership of the party.
Rather, he said his rival, who is the Chairman of the party’s National Caretaker Committee, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, must resign before peace would return to the troubled party.
Sheriff spoke in Abuja on Monday when he hosted a delegation of the party from Abia State.
He said it was true that a meeting was held in Abuja last week Tuesday on how to bring all warring factions in the party together.
Unfortunately, he said the meeting could not agree with the most important aspect of his conditions.
Apart from the resignation of Makarfi, Sheriff said that he (sheriff) must be allowed to nominate the chairman and 10 others into the new convention committee.
He said he was ready to accept another 10 members for the committee from the Makarfi group.
The former governor said these were the demands he made at a meeting held with leaders of the party, including Markafi last Tuesday at the Taraba State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja.
Senator Buruji Kashamu, who represents Ogun East in the Senate, confirmed that the meeting was held in a statement.
Buruji listed those at the meeting to include the Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu; Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State and the Minority Leader of the Senate, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.
Others, he said, were the Deputy Minority Whip of the Senate, Sen. Biodun Olujinmi; Sen. Suleiman Adokwe from Nassarawa State; Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Sen. Walid Jubrin; House Minority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor; former Deputy President of the Senate, Sen. Ibrahim Mantu and himself.
Sheriff also said that he told those at the meeting that the proposed national convention should not hold in Port Harcourt, but in Abuja.
He said these were the conditions he said should be met before he would speak to members of his National Working Committee.
These members, he added, would be persuaded to resign and present themselves again for election and if they so wish, give-up their offices in the interest of the party.
According to sheriff, “People are very interested in our party and how the impasse will be settled, before the Port Harcourt convention was aborted by a court order.