Call him Mr. Controversial. Name him Former PDP Chairman. Some Call him agent of APC in PDP…name it; Senator Ali Modu Sheriff fits into all the names. But what many did not see coming was that the man is also a gentleman and law abiding at least going by his acceptance of the apex court ruling, which sacked him as PDP Chairman.
Unlike typical of a Nigerian politician, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff has come out openly to congratulate Senator Ahmed Makarfi and expressed his readiness to also work with the new leadership to recover the lost opportunities of the PDP in the years ahead. Sheriff declared this new posture via his twitter handle after the verdict; “The Supreme Court has spoken. I congratulate Senator Makarfi. We must all put our hands together to channel a new course for the PDP. Moving forward, we must embrace true reconciliation, so as to be united as a formidable option to send the All Progressives Congress (APC) packing in 2019.”
On his own side, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who is now the authentic Chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the PDP, a position he got through a National Convention, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court in the Wednesday judgment, also extended the olive branch to all disgruntled members of the party when he took possession of the Wadata Plaza, Abuja headquarters of the party. He said, “With today’s judicial verdict putting an end to the litigations rocking our party, there is no victor, no vanquished.” Makarfi urged those who did not get favourable court pronouncement to remain in the fold of the party adding, “We should continue as friends, knowing that there are things we can do together to raise the bar for our party. I urge them to come forward, join hands with us and let’s see how we can move PDP forward.”
Now that the war, which has ravaged the PDP is over, party supporters who spoke with Newsbitsng.com said they expect the PDP to change-the-change come 2019 since the APC government has practically dragged Nigeria 30 years behind. Moses Asonye, a businessman said, “I am really disappointed in the government of the APC. With the sort of propaganda they mounted against the PDP, one would have thought that they would do things differently now that they have the opportunity.
“Two year down the line, what do we have…a country with serious division along religious, ethnic and tribal lines; a country with almost six different exchange rates from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), a country where electricity has degenerated; a country where the roads are so, so horrible; a country where insecurity of lives and property have been thrown to the dogs; a country where cattle is more valuable than a human being; a country that is so unpredictable and for that reasons foreign investors are running away on daily basis. We cannot continue like this and achieve result as a nation. I would really wish that the PDP would reclaim governance in 2019 because they seem to understand what all-inclusive government is all about.”
