Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike
In a lengthy interview published by ThisDay,
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has blasted the former acting
chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Ali Modu Sheriff,
calling him an agent of destruction that came to destroy the party.
When asked to bare his mind on the recent controversy rocking the party, Wike said:
"I don’t think there are different court orders. What really
happened, which shocked most of us, was that before the convention we
were told that Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, the former acting national
chairman, had gone to court with the former national secretary and the
auditor to file a suit against PDP and that they got an order that there
should not be election into the offices of the national chairman,
national secretary and auditor. That means that elections can take place
into other offices. So, we asked ourselves why the national chairman
would go to court against the party when everybody appeared to be giving
him the backing. So, we met him in his office that particular day when
the Board of Trustees (BoT) was meeting. Those present were my humble
self; the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekwerenmadu; Governor Ayo Fayose
of Ekiti State; and the former Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Austin Opara. We confronted him and asked him if he
went to court to get an order against the party that there should not be
elections into the office of the national chairman, national secretary
and auditor. He said how could he go to court to stop elections when
there was nobody opposing his election? We said that was correct, and we
then asked him to write a letter mandating a lawyer to take steps to
set aside that court order because it was a case of impersonation.
"He wrote a letter, signed it before us, and mandated Ahmed
Raji (SAN) to take steps. Then, we later heard that there was a judgment
of an Abuja High Court that there should be elections into the office
of the national chairman and financial secretary and that there should
not be elections into the other 16 national offices. So, we filed a
motion of stay of that judgment and also appealed that judgment. So, our
lawyers advised that we should go ahead with the elections. The former
chairman addressed a press conference and said he was not aware of any
court order and that anybody who had gone to court on his behalf did so
at his own risk, because the convention must go ahead. Then we came to
Port Harcourt preparing fully for the convention. In fact, the chairman
appeared before the screening committee on Friday (May 20) and after the
screening, he made a statement to the press that the election would
take place the next day, Saturday. So, meetings upon meetings were going
on throughout that night till late hours of Saturday when some people
suggested that we should not conduct the elections because of the court
orders, and that we should look at the constitution and see that the
convention has the power to sack national officers and appoint
committees, as may deem fit. The issue now became that of appointing a
national caretaker committee and some people said why not appoint the
national chairman to chair this caretaker committee in the next three
months so that it would not be seen that he was disgraced out of office.
He agreed. However, some people said it would be more dangerous,
stating that the continuous stay of the chairman has caused a lot of
disintegration in the party, and has brought crisis in the party. It was
because of Ali Modu Sheriff that you heard some people met in Abuja.
"So, when the stakeholders: governors, former governors,
leadership of the National Assembly said no, we cannot continue with Ali
Modu Sheriff, we decided to go for the convention. While we were at the
convention, he (Sheriff) went out to announce on his way to Abuja that
the convention was illegal, because there was a court order saying that
there was no convention. Meanwhile, he had participated in the screening
and everything. But because he was not given the chairmanship slot to
preside over the three-month committee, he now felt that the convention
was illegal. We can even show you letters that he wrote. So, as far as
we are concerned, PDP is one. You can see the other Abuja people have
now come together to say they are satisfied with what has happened. You
cannot because of one man kill a party that people have laboured for.
Modu Sheriff did not surprise most of his critics. Modu Sheriff actually
confirmed the fears of his critics who said you do not know this man;
we know his antecedents. If you know him you will not even allow him to
come near the party. If I were Modu Sheriff, I would have surprised my
critics by accepting what the national convention has done. So,
it is very obvious that Modu Sheriff’s intention was to destroy the
party. And, those surrounding him, are those whose characters are
questionable; who, right from time, have always had issues of
credibility such that you cannot trust them. But we thank God. That
shows the interest people have in the PDP. People believe that
PDP is the only hope that Nigeria has now because the ruling party has
failed. So, there is nothing like another court order saying that the
caretaker committee is illegal. No.
"The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, where the convention
took place, recognised the Senator Ahmed Markarfi-led committee and
restrained INEC from dealing with Ali Modu Sheriff. As I speak to you
now, about eight or nine members of the former national committee have
also pulled out and said they agree with what the national convention
has done and said they must respect the party. So, it is difficult for
you to say another court will set aside when a court of coordinate
jurisdiction, in fact, the same Federal High Court, has given ruling
recognising the caretaker committee. What Modu Sheriff and his few
friends are trying to do is to make it seem there is a division. There
is no division. All the governors, national assembly leadership, BoT and
others are together. So, which arm of PDP can you say is with Modu
Sheriff? INEC monitored the convention in Port Harcourt."
He further confirmed that Sheriff might have been nursing the
ambition to run for president under the PDP. When asked if it was true,
he said: "Yes. But I say where is the evidence? But I can confirm to
you that Modu Sheriff is not to be trusted. How did we know? We had
agreed that this was an opposition party; that we should not allow
crisis, particularly in those states that do not have governors. Let
there be true primaries. But, Modu Sheriff was imposing people in all
those states, causing crisis. I can give you an example of one of the
states that does not have a (PDP) governor in the South-east. Modu
Sheriff had to impose people and we were shocked. So, it was clear he
had a hidden agenda. But, we thank God that it was revealed on time. I
can tell you that it was revealed on time. So, we have no regrets. If we
didn’t do this, probably the whole world wouldn’t have known. A lot of
allegations against him had nothing to do, before now, with him being a
mole, but with integrity, perception before these allegations started
coming in. And, true to type, the man did not surprise his critics."
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