Court Sacks Sheriff As PDP Chairman

An FCT High Court sitting in Apo has today sacked Senator Ali Modu Sheriff as acting Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), describing the process that produced him as illegal.

The presiding judge, Justice Valentine Ashi, in his ruling nullified the 2014 PDP Constitution Amendment upon which Sheriff was appointed PDP Chairman. He described the amendment as illegal and a violation of the Electoral Act and declared all action carried out with it including anybody parading as officer of the PDP as illegal.

It would be recalled that Sheriff, a former governor of Borno state, took over the leadership of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) sometimes in February.

However, the emergence of former governor of Kaduna State, Senator Ahmed Makarfi, as the interim national chairman of party after top party organs endorsed him earlier this month has thrown the party into a leadership conundrum.

The amendment upon which Sheriff assumed leadership had allegedly zoned the office of the party chairman to the North-East zone from where Sheriff came from. Sheriff took over the chairmanship from Uche Secondus (a South-Easterner) based on this zoning arrangement.

(Daily Trust)